


Sorrow's Promise Oneshots

by actress4Him



Series: Daughter of Darkness [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Angst, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Blood, Broken Bones, Bullying, Christmas Town (Nightmare Before Christmas), Destiny Islands (Kingdom Hearts), Developing Relationship, Domestic Violence, F/M, First Dates, First Kiss, Flashbacks, Friendship, Gen, Halloween Costumes, Halloween Town (Nightmare Before Christmas), Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kissing, Lion King (1994) References, Making Out, Mulan (1998) References, Musical References, Nightmare Before Christmas References, Organization XIII (Kingdom Hearts), Parallel Universes, Prequel, Pride Lands (The Lion King), Riku Angst (Kingdom Hearts), Scars, The World That Never Was (Kingdom Hearts), Whump, Will be adding tags as I go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 38,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22088506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actress4Him/pseuds/actress4Him
Summary: A series of oneshots to go along with my fic, Sorrow's Promise.  In between scenes, chapters told from other characters' perspectives, etc.  Tags will be added for each new chapter that is posted.Twenty-first chapter: Riku searches for Meli after she goes missing in The Land of Dragons.
Relationships: Donald Duck & Goofy & Sora (Kingdom Hearts) & Original Character(s), Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Riku (Kingdom Hearts)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Daughter of Darkness [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575001
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Our first oneshot was a request from FFN user Enamis09! She wanted to see a scene from Meli's childhood. This was pretty fun to write! You'll get a little bigger glimpse of a couple of characters that have just been mentioned in passing up until now.
> 
> Obviously, this takes before the beginning of Sorrow's Promise – about four years prior, to be exact.

**Prequel chapter**

_Meli's Perspective_

The book that I had been burying my nose in was suddenly ripped out of my hands and went flying across the yard. I didn't even have to look up to know who would be glaring down at me, it was always the same boy.

“What do you want, Dustin?” I scowled up at him, trying my best to look tough.

“I wanna know when you're gonna stop being such a baby,” he sneered. “Why do you still read that fairy-tale crap? You're what, eleven years old now? Time to grow up.”

I pushed myself up off the grass and to my feet. Dustin may have had two years on me, but we were almost exactly the same height, and I used that to my advantage, looking him straight in the eyes. “Just because it's got romance in it doesn't make it a fairy tale. Fairy tales have princesses, and knights in shining armor fighting off monsters and dragons. I'm plenty old enough not to believe in that stuff.”

“Oh, yeah? Well you're not old enough not to believe that you've got secret friends who only visit you in your dreams!” This jab came from Miles, Dustin's constant shadow. The two boys fist-bumped like it was the greatest insult ever thought up, despite the fact that I had heard some version of it dozens of times from them over the past year.

I flipped my waist-length auburn ponytail over my shoulder and crossed my arms. “You're just jealous because you're not special enough to have friends like that.”

“You're such an idiot.” Dustin shoved my shoulders hard, and I stumbled back a few steps. “Only an idiot would believe something so stupid. I thought maybe one of these days we'd knock some sense into you, but it's not working so far.”

Miles stepped up beside Dustin with a smirk. “Guess we'll just have to keep trying.”

I knew what was coming. Turning, I darted away across the yard, trying to reach the safety of the house before they caught me. Even troublemakers like those two wouldn't dare start a fight inside Ms. Young's house, not unless they were looking to spend the week in their rooms, or miss dinner.

Unfortunately, their legs were just a bit longer than mine. Someone slammed into my back full force, sending me sprawling onto the ground, and I heard a sound like a stick being snapped in two. It took several seconds before the pain hit. I howled, much to the boys' amusement, but their laughter faded into expressions of horror when they rolled me over onto my back and saw me clutching my oddly-bent arm.

A few hours later, I was back from the hospital with a purple cast on my left arm, and a fuming Ms. Young sending me to my room for the evening. I smarted off to her, telling her that I hadn't knocked myself to the ground, and asked shouldn't having a broken arm be punishment enough for getting into a fight, but that only got me a smack on the head and a lecture before I was shut in. In all honesty, I didn't really care about the punishment, other than the dinner I probably wasn't getting. When I was in here, I didn't have to worry about being hassled by the other kids, at least not until the other girl I shared the room with came in for the night.

At school the next day, Zephyr was completely enthralled by the cast. “I always thought it would be so much fun to have all my friends sign a cast,” he gushed during recess, poking at the hard surface.

Kaj, sitting nearby, just rolled his eyes. “Zeph, seriously. Broken bones aren't 'fun'. They hurt.”

“Have you ever had a broken bone?” I asked the silver-haired boy.

“Yeah, he broke his wrist a few years ago,” Zeph answered for him. “Must've been not long before you started school here.”

“I fell out of a tree,” Kaj supplied quickly.

Zephyr wrinkled his nose. “I thought you told me you fell off your bike.”

Kaj froze, then looked away, across the playground. “Oh. Um, yeah. You're right. I was...thinking of something else.”

Zeph and I shook off his strange answer almost immediately. Kaj was always getting lost in distant thought, so we were pretty used to it by now. “Anyway,” I sighed. “You two are the only friends I have, remember? So I don't know how much fun getting signatures could possibly be.”

“Well, then the two of us will just have to decorate the whole thing!” Zeph replied brightly, not at all fazed. He produced a Sharpie out of his shorts pocket that he had likely pilfered from the classroom just for this occasion, and set to work on the cast. After painstakingly scratching out his name in giant block letters, he started on some sort of drawing that I couldn't get a good look at. Several minutes passed before he sat back to admire his handiwork.

“Ta da! What do you think?”

I held my arm up to study it. The profiles of two faces were smiling at each other, one with a long ponytail, and the other with short, messy hair. Above them, a third face wore close-cropped hair and a smirk. “Is that...us?”

“Yep!” Zephyr looked very pleased that I had recognized his masterpiece.

Kaj appeared above us and grabbed onto my hand, narrowing his eyes at the drawing. “Not sure how you figured that out.”

“Hey!” Zeph protested.

Snatching the marker out of his hand, Kaj settled down onto the turf in front of me and carefully positioned my arm so that the bottom of it was facing him. “You're hogging the canvas. It's my turn.”

Lying in bed that night, I turned my arm all around as gingerly as possible, a smile creeping onto my face. Kaj's signature was simple, just his name in his normal handwriting, but next to it he had sketched a pretty nice picture of a palm tree and some waves. Zeph had taken back over after that, adding a few barely-recognizable doodles of cats and dogs, followed by Kaj drawing the same things just to prove he could do it better. It really wasn't surprising that even my broken arm had turned into a story of competition between those two. They were ridiculous sometimes, but they were my friends, and I was more grateful for them that night than ever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a scene that I came up with really early in the writing process, and originally planned on including. It turned out, though, that I already had plenty of "having fun" scenes in the mansion, ones that furthered the plot a little better, and just didn't really have room for this one. I did like how it gave Meli and Riku a little more common ground, though.
> 
> It doesn't really matter where exactly in the mansion period this chapter is placed, but it's definitely before Riku confesses.

**Chapter 15.5**

(Falls between chapters 15 and 16)

_Meli's Perspective_

Finishing the last of the ten laps that Riku had assigned me, I slowed to a stop and bent over with my hands on my knees. When my heart rate had slowed almost back to normal, I straightened, wiping the back of my hand across my forehead with a huff of air. Time to go inside and cool off a little before we had to head out on the day's assignment.

As I pushed open the back door of the mansion, an unusual sound drifted down the hallway to meet me. Was that...singing? My face wrinkled in surprise as I started slowly towards the source. There was no mistaking it now, it was definitely singing, and definitely a male voice. Which meant it had to be Riku, as hard as it was for me to believe that. I had almost reached our bedroom doors now, and could finally make out the lyrics to the song.

_And oh, the towering feelings_

_Just to know somehow you are near._

_The overpowering feeling_

_That any second you may suddenly appear._

He was good. Like, really good. His tenor voice was light, yet strong, and raised goosebumps all over my arms. Of course he could sing. Seemed like he could do everything else, so why not sing, too? But...My Fair Lady? Really? With all of the movies that he hadn't seen, I never would have expected My Fair Lady to be the one that he actually had.

_People stop and stare,_

_They don't bother me..._

I hummed along a bit, then found myself joining in quietly from just outside his bedroom.

_For there's nowhere else on earth_

_That I would rather be._

_Let the time go by..._

Riku's song stopped abruptly, and I clamped my mouth shut to cut off the note he had left me on. A few seconds passed, in which I considered retreating into my own room, but just before I made the decision to do so, his door eased open.

“You're standing out there listening, aren't you?”

I puckered my lips guiltily. “Well, not just listening...you kinda left me hanging there.”

Riku's mouth quirked to the side slightly. I figured that that would be the end of it, that he'd be too embarrassed to ever let me catch him singing again. To my surprise, though, he opened the door a bit wider, leaned his shoulder against the door frame, and began again. “Let the time go by...”

I smiled broadly and joined him for the last few lines, my mediocre mezzo voice blending smoothly with his.

_I won't care if I_

_Can be here_

_On the street where you live!_

We stared at one another in silence for a moment when the song was over, not sure what to say. “So...musicals, huh?” I finally remarked, my amusement clearly showing.

Riku gave a vocal sigh, smirking. “Yeah. My mom...she's a big fan. Used to drag me to the theatre whenever there was a new performance. I don't know that you could call me a fan, necessarily, but...they're not too bad.”

“Well, at least we finally have something that we both know!” I laughed. “Though I've only seen some of the ones that were made into movies.”

“I can't say I know which ones those are.”

I crossed my arms, thinking. “Hmm. How about...”

_Say you'll share with me_

_One love, one lifetime._

_Say the word and I will follow you._

A smile spread over Riku's face, and he began to sing, too.

_Share each day with me_

_Each night, each morning..._

I froze suddenly as I realized that the next line of the song was supposed to be me asking him to say that he loved me. I coughed. “Um...that's all I remember.” Wow, how had it not occurred to me sooner how awkward it was for us to stand here and sing love songs to each other? There were so many other songs I could have picked.

“That's okay,” Riku responded. “Phantom of the Opera...I think that was one of my favorites, actually.”

“It's a good one,” I agreed. “I, um...guess I'll go get ready now.” I gestured towards my door, still feeling uncomfortable and ready to exit as quickly as possible.

“Okay.” Riku didn't move from his spot as I backed away and began to turn the knob. “Hey, uh...thanks for not making fun of me.”

“Of course not. You've got a great voice, and hey, I think everyone should be allowed to be a little geeky about something. Or, a lot geeky about a lot of things, in my case.”

Riku chuckled. “Okay, well, I expect plenty of musical references from now on.”

“Oh, don't worry!” I grinned, backing into my room and starting to sing again.

_You've got it coming_

_You've got it coming_

_You'll only have yourself to blame..._

Riku's laughter rang out into the hallway as I shut the door and fell up against it, unable to wipe off the smile that had etched itself onto my face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own My Fair Lady, Phantom of the Opera, or Chicago. (Obviously.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER –  
> Domestic violence
> 
> This is one of my favorites of the oneshots I've written. Maybe it's just because I'm a sucker for whump, but I think it's mainly because it's fun to finally actually see things from Riku's point of view. That's the reason I decided to write this one – just to explore his side of the experience. I discovered that it's a bit challenging writing from the perspective of someone who can't see!

**Chapter 19/20 Remix**

(Runs parallel to chapters 19 and 20)

_Riku's Perspective_

“Let's not get food from this place again, wherever it was.”

I nodded, stirring the contents of my takeout box without enthusiasm. “Yeah, it's...not the greatest. That's what I get for trying somewhere new.”

Meli laughed. “If I had any more of my money, I'd portal back home and get us something from there on occasion.”

I smirked, thinking of the bag full of tacos she had brought us last time and the tickle war that had ensued. “If I had a working kitchen, I'd just make us dinner.”

“Wait, you can cook?” She sounded surprised, and impressed.

I shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah. I'm not a gourmet chef or anything, but I can make a pretty decent meal.”

“I can make a killer pb and j. Oh, and boxed mac and cheese is my specialty.” I couldn't help but laugh, and Meli joined in. “I never really had anybody to teach me anything about cooking growing up,” she continued. “Ms. Young wouldn't even let us anywhere near her kitchen.”

If I remembered correctly, Ms. Young was the leader of her foster home, someone whom Meli had not been overly fond of. “I pretty much taught myself just by experimenting.” I hesitated, my mind wandering back to those lonely nights at home. “It was either that, or don't eat some nights.”

“Really?”

I could hear the concern in her voice, and berated myself inwardly for bringing it up. “Eh, you know. Mom wasn't around much, working all the time. Most nights it was just me for dinner, unless I was at Sora or Kairi's.”

“What about your dad?” Meli pressed.

Clenching my teeth slightly, I tried to think of a way to avoid the question. At the same time, though, a little voice in my head was chiding me for not wanting to open up. She was showing interest in my life, shouldn't I be happy about that? “Left when I was just a kid,” I finally answered.

“I'm sorry,” she responded quietly.

I offered a small smile. “Don't be. We certainly weren't.” It had been one of the best things that could have happened to Mom and me, despite it leaving her as a single working mother. Meli didn't answer, and I realized that I must have made her uncomfortable. Guess there was such a thing as opening up a little too much. “So, what's your hidden talent, then? Besides Keyblade wielding and magic, of course.”

“Oh, um...I'm a pretty good hairstylist.” Meli's tone had lightened up considerably. “I mean, if I do say so myself.” I felt a rush of air come towards me, but was still taken completely off guard when her small, warm hand touched my forehead and pushed my hair back off of my face. “I could cut yours if you wanted,” she offered. “It's getting pretty long, you know!”

My heart had suddenly started skipping beats, but I found my voice again and laughed. “Yeah, I know. Maybe someday, when all of this is over with.”

Meli removed her hand, and my hair fell back in place. My skin felt strangely tingly in the absence of her touch. “Why, because you like it this way, or because you don't trust my hair cutting skills?” she asked. “I cut my own hair, and it looks pretty good, in my opinion.”

I tried to remember what her hair had looked like when I had seen it for that one, brief moment. The color was the main thing that had stuck out to me, though I did recall it being pretty short. I opened my mouth to answer her, but sensed movement again and paused to try to determine what she was doing. There was a faint sound of skin stroking skin, like she might be rubbing her hands together, and she muttered something that included the word “Aiden”.

Immediately I was on the alert. “What was that about Aiden?” I had not liked that guy from the very first time she had mentioned him.

“Nothing,” Meli replied quickly. “He just...liked my hair longer, that's all.”

“But why did you start messing with your hand when you said that?” There was no way that was coincidental.

“How did you...?” I felt her quickly change positions. “It's nothing. There's no reason.”

“You're a terrible liar, you know that?” I peeled off my right glove and threw it down onto the bed, then reached across and felt for her hand. Meli's left arm was still in front of her, so I grabbed the right arm that she was attempting to hide behind her back and pulled the hand towards me. She struggled against me, but I gripped her wrist tightly and ran my finger over the raised spot on her palm. “That's a scar, isn't it?” I could feel my anger growing by the second. “What did he do to you?”

“He didn't do anything. I just burned myself, that's all.” Meli yanked back once again, but I still didn't let go. That was definitely another lie.

“You mean he burned you.” Who was this guy, that he thought he could treat another human being like this? “What was it, a cigarette?”

Meli growled in frustration, but finally blurted out the truth. “It was a lighter, okay? He burned my hand with a lighter because I cut my hair off.”

I released my hold on her hand, stunned. Somehow that seemed even worse to me than the thought of the cigarette had. I found myself imagining this overgrown bully holding a squirming, pleading Meli's hand over a lighter, and my stomach twisted into a knot.

“It was my fault, though,” Meli mumbled. “I cut it without asking him about it. I should have just asked.”

That was more than I could take. I groaned, throwing my hands up in the air. “No, Meli, that is not your fault! It's your hair, on your body. You should be able to do what you want with it without asking anybody, and without being afraid of being punished for it. You can't blame yourself for everything that your good-for-nothing boyfriend does to you!”

“Don't you talk about him like that,” she warned through her teeth.

“I'm sorry, but somebody's gotta say it. The guy's a loser, Meli. Why do you stay with him when he keeps hurting you?”

“You don't know anything!” Meli shifted suddenly, leaving the bed and moving away.

I swung my legs around so that I could stand, too. “I know that it's not right. Surely you know it, too. You're a smart girl. I don't understand why you can't see it.”

“Why do you care so much, anyway?”

“Because...” I could tell that I had made her quite angry, which had not been my intention. But I just couldn't stand to see her being treated like this. She deserved so much better. The only way that she could possibly think that this was okay was if she just didn't know anything better, which made my heart ache. This is not what love is supposed to look like, I wanted to say. You need someone to show you what love really means. Instead, I swallowed and tried to speak in a kinder tone than before. “Because you're my friend. I just want what's best for you.”

There was complete silence for a long moment, other than the sound of her heavy breathing. When she did speak again, her voice was terse, and I could tell that she was facing away from me. “I think you should go now.”

Drawing in a regretful breath, I reached over to grab my food off of the bed. “Yeah. I'll do that.”

I left the room quietly, retreating back to my own bedroom and flopping down into the armchair with a giant sigh. Well, I guess I had screwed up royally. Here I was, wanting to deepen my relationship with Meli, and instead I had made her so mad that she didn't even want to speak to me. I really had felt like all those things needed saying, but now I wished I had just kept my mouth shut. Kairi had always given me a hard time about my tendency to blurt out exactly what I was thinking when I got riled up.

“I always try so hard to get you to tell me what you're feeling,” she would say, hands on her hips. “But I guess all I really need to do is make you mad, and you'll just let me have it!”

I smirked a little at the memory, but my mind quickly went back to Meli. What was done was done, so I guess now I just had to hope that something I said would actually click with her. She had to get rid of this Aiden guy, before he ended up doing something much worse. I didn't have many memories of how my dad had treated my mom, but I remembered enough to know that Aiden couldn't be much different. Of course, my mom hadn't left him, either. It was him that ended up leaving us first. I sighed again. Maybe I had been a bit too harsh with Meli, expecting her to be able to make that choice. I had let my concern for her and my own past experiences get the best of me, but I really couldn't actually place myself in her shoes.

I should probably go and apologize to her. Hopefully she had cooled off enough by now that she would actually listen. Pushing myself up out of the chair, I made my way back to her door and knocked lightly. “Meli?” I leaned my ear in close, but didn't hear anything. “Hey, I know you probably don't want to talk to me right now, but...I just wanted to say I was sorry.” I listened again. There was no sign of life behind that door whatsoever. Either she was doing a really good job of being quiet and still, or she had left the room without me hearing.

I frowned, wondering where she might have gone, hoping that she wouldn't wander off too far on her own. She may have greatly improved in her fighting skills, but she wasn't used to tackling the Heartless alone. Part of me wanted to try to find her, but I didn't want to seem like a stalker, so I went back to my room to finish my now-cold food.

It was several minutes later when I heard a strange noise come from the hallway. Was that Meli, returning to her room? It hadn't sounded like a door closing, though. I couldn't quite place what it was. Then another noise came, and this time it was a voice, though it was hard to say whether it was a call or a groan. It filled me with a sense of unease, and I jumped to my feet, crossing quickly to the door. Leaning out into the hallway slightly, I turned my head back and forth, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. “Meli? Did you call me?”

“I'm here.” I wasn't sure which was more alarming, the fact that she sounded like she could barely speak, or that her voice definitely came from the direction of the floor. Without even thinking twice about it, I snatched up one side of my blindfold so that I could see what was happening. The sudden influx of light made me grimace, and I blinked rapidly to clear my vision. When I finally could see her, my heart dropped into my stomach, and an involuntary curse slipped out of my mouth.

Potions. I had to get potions. Dropping the blindfold back into place, I stepped over to my desk and grabbed two glass vials, holding them tightly in my fist as I hurried over to Meli's side. She was lying on her stomach, so I gently eased her over onto her side so that I could slide my hands underneath her head and knees and lift her onto my lap. She let out a quiet moan as I did so, and I tightened my jaw. The back of her head was wet with blood. There had been so much blood on her head and face, in fact, that I hadn't even been able to tell where it was all coming from. Removing my right arm from under her legs, I felt frantically for the first vial of potion and popped the cork out with my thumb, listening with pain in my own chest as she struggled to draw each breath.

“Here, drink this.” I held the potion up to her lips, trying to keep my hand steady despite the fear and anger that were coursing through me. Who or what had done this to her? Heartless? Somehow it hadn't looked like a Heartless attack. It was hard to tell for sure, but it had seemed more like a beating than the normal scratches and bites from a Heartless or Dusk.

I felt Meli relax in my arms as the potion did its work. Her breathing slowed and quieted, and she stopped trembling. I gave her a moment before speaking again. “Do you still hurt anywhere?”

“I told you before I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to pain, but I think I'll be okay,” Meli answered. She tried to push herself up off of my lap, but let out a tell-tale hissing sound as she did so. She was obviously still in pain.

“You don't have to be tough about this. Being beaten to within an inch of your life gives you plenty of excuse to be a little pitiful.” I reached for the other vial, noticing that she didn't correct me about the beating. “Besides, if you're still hurting you can take another.”

Meli took the potion from my hand and drank it, sighing deeply. “Thanks,” she murmured. “I...probably wouldn't have made it if you hadn't heard me out here.”

The knot in my stomach that had been slowly dissipating tightened again. What if I hadn't heard her? What if I had lost her? Even though we had only known each other a short time, the thought of her no longer being in my life was more than I could bear.

“What happened?” I asked her. When she didn't answer, my suspicions were confirmed. “You went back there, didn't you? To see him.”

I couldn't see her response, of course, but I heard her shift positions and suck in a rattling breath. Placing a hand gently on her back, I felt her shaking with sobs, and couldn't help but wrap my arms around her and draw her back in close. She turned her face into my chest, and my heart skipped a couple of beats. Now's not the time to be enjoying her closeness, Riku. I honestly couldn't believe that she was allowing me to hold her like that, as eager as she had seemed to get off of me a minute ago. But I wasn't going to question it. I just squeezed her tightly and let her cry.

“I loved him,” she hiccuped. “I thought he loved me, too.”

I sighed heavily, wishing I knew what to say to ease the ache in her heart. Physical wounds I could heal, but it was too bad there wasn't some kind of potion that dealt with emotions. I would have stocked up on them for myself long ago if there was. Right now I needed one to take away the fury that was smoldering in my chest, before I ended up doing something stupid. Like, ask Meli to make another portal back to her universe so that I could go find Aiden and show him what it felt like to be beaten to a pulp. As much as I wanted to, I knew now wasn't the time for that, either. Meli needed me here. I would just have to hope that he would get his comeuppance sometime in the future.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This oneshot was a request from FFN user Angie-Ange - the first kiss scene from Riku's perspective. I decided while writing this that pure romantic fluff really isn't my forte haha. I can do silly, teasing fluff, and I can do angsty fluff, but I feel like when I try to go the romantic route it gets corny. So, my apologies if parts of this are corny, but I think at least the fun and angsty parts turned out alright.

**Chapter 23 Remix**

(Runs parallel to chapter 23)

_Riku's perspective_

It had been so long, so long since Sora had gone into that stupid pod. Each and every day that passed was, in my mind, a failure on my part to save him, to do what needed to be done so that he could wake up and just be his happy, normal self again. I missed him. Back on the Islands, I had always had both Sora and Kairi around, shining their light on my darkness. The moment that I had set off on my own was the moment my troubles had begun in earnest, and now all I craved was a little of that light back in my life.

Speaking of which...the sound of the back door of the mansion opening reached my ears, and I turned my face toward the approaching footsteps. “Good morning.”

Meli yawned long and loudly, almost as if it was intentionally over-exaggerated. “Good morning.”

I found myself smiling despite my morose thoughts of only a moment before. Meli tended to have that affect on me, and I still wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. All I knew was that, though her light might not be quite as bright as my other friends', it was just as warm and inviting, and I was drawn to her in a way that I had never been drawn to anyone before. She was just so...perfect. From the way she spoke when she was sleepy – like right now – to the way she could keep up an argument even when there was nothing left to argue about, to the way her skin felt so soft and smooth against mine whenever we happened to touch during training. On more than one occasion I had been tempted to just reach out and grab one of her tiny little hands, to hold it the way I had when she had been injured by the Heartless. Lately, though, I had also caught myself thinking about taking it a few steps further than that – like maybe even kissing her.

I could feel the heat creep into my cheeks just from the thought, and I busied myself with standing so that my hair would hide my face until it passed. “I thought now that you had coffee, you were supposed to be more alert in the mornings.” The scent of the strong brew wafted from her.

“I said I would be less grumpy, not that I would be ready to go with the sunrise. Er...not that there is a sunrise, but...you know what I mean.” She yawned again. “Besides, I haven't quite finished it yet.”

“Well, why don't you do that, and start warming up, too. That should help wake you up. I wouldn't want to take advantage of your sleepiness when we spar.”

“Oh, uh-huh, sure you wouldn't.” She slurped the hot coffee. “Because you definitely don't enjoy beating me every single time.”

I smirked. “Of course I like winning. But in this case, since I'm training you, the real win would be for you to beat me.” She snort-laughed, but didn't respond. “It'll happen one of these days,” I assured her.

“Yeah, okay.” I could sense her walking toward me, but didn't expect the playful punch to my arm as she passed. My skin tingled at the touch, even through my coat.

A few minutes later, we were ready to begin our sparring match. I held back, watching the vague shadow that was Meli through my blindfold, ears alert for the sound of her movements, waiting for her to make the first move. She did, eventually, but only after taking her time positioning herself and deciding the best course of action. When we had first started out, she always wanted to dive straight into every fight right away, so this was a definite improvement.

I blocked her first swing over my right shoulder. Another came in toward my legs, and I jumped back to avoid it, surprising her with a blow to the side from the blunt edge of my sword. She stumbled, and I took the opportunity to cast Blizzard. Her leap out of the way was messy, landing her on her back in the dirt, but she was able to cast Dark Firaga, which had quickly become her favorite spell, right back at me. By the time I had blocked the incoming flames, she was on her feet again.

More ice erupted from the tip of Soul Eater, but suddenly Meli's shadow vanished out of the line of fire. I could no longer see her, but could feel the darkness coming straight at me and knew she was at full speed. My sword came up in front of my face just in time, but I was not expecting how much force she would be using coming straight out of that darkness-fueled run. Before I knew it, my feet were being swiped out from underneath me, and I landed flat on the ground. One of the spear tips of her Keyblade poked into my chest.

“Do you surrender?”

It took a few seconds before my brain fully registered the fact that she had just won the match. When it finally did, I couldn't keep a huge, goofy grin off of my face. “I've never been so proud to be beaten in my life. Congratulations, Meli!”

She huffed incredulously as she retracted her Keyblade. “I did it! I finally beat you!”

“I knew you could do it.” She had come so far in such a short amount of time, considering she had never had any kind of combat experience before. It hadn't taken me long to realize that she was a quick learner, and I had been expecting this day for a while now. My chest was nearly bursting with pride.

“I didn't,” she laughed. “I honestly wasn't sure this day would ever come.”

Her self-doubt had been her biggest obstacle all along, but I wasn't about to launch into another lecture about that right now. “Well, that just means that you need to have more faith in yourself,” was all I said, reaching up to take the hand that she had offered to me.

She helped me to my feet, and only then did I realize that we were holding hands, just like I had wanted. My heart stuttered, then flew into overdrive. I should have let go. I should have backed away a step or two, instead of continuing to stand so incredibly close to her. Maybe it was the emotional high that I was on from getting to see her succeed, but I didn't want to do either of those things. Her nearness was intoxicating. She smelled like coffee and sweat, of course, but also of her lilac shampoo, and somehow the combination was just...Meli, and I wanted to just keep breathing it in.

I leaned down closer to her, almost unable to stop myself. “I really am proud of you, Meli. You've come so far.” It was nearly a whisper. If I had spoken any louder, my voice probably would have cracked and betrayed how I was feeling at that moment. It was so foreign to me, this want. There had been crushes in school, sure, but this was completely different. I would never have dreamed of being any kind of forward with any of those girls. But right now she was the tide, pulling me in, and I didn't even care if I drowned.

Her shallow, panting breaths stopped suddenly, as if caught in her throat. She was flustered, I could tell, but she didn't try to pull her hand away or step back, and it gave me hope. Maybe she felt the same way about me that I did about her. Maybe she was just waiting for me to make the first move. My face began to heat up again. Could I? Should I?

“Thanks,” she whispered finally.

Her breath brushed across my lips, and I could stand it no longer. With a burst of courage, I bridged the gap between us and kissed her. At first she stiffened, and I almost yanked back, but just as quickly she relaxed, her lips parting slightly to mesh with mine. It may not have been my first kiss, but it was the first one I truly wanted to remember, the first one that wasn't completely awkward, the first one that was really just perfect, like her. I used the hand that wasn't holding hers to cup the back of her head, pulling her in even closer.

Then she grunted, jerked, and nearly fell back away from me. I reluctantly let her slide out of my grasp, heart still pounding. “What...what was that?”

My heart sank, and the guilt and shame that I had feared started to take over. “I'm sorry, I've wanted to do that for a really long time now, but...I shouldn't have just sprung it on you with no warning.” I rubbed the back of my neck, kicking myself inwardly for giving in to my desires like that.

“Why did you do that?” Every clearly overwhelmed word out of her mouth was like another punch to the gut. “Why would you...why would you do that?”

I sucked in a breath, trying to steady myself and garner the courage to speak the truth. “Because I care about you, Meli.” There, I'd said it. I was probably stupid for feeling that way, but at least now she knew. “Maybe you hadn't realized it before...” I had kinda thought that the way I was constantly losing my cool around her would have given her a hint, but I shouldn't have assumed. “I'm terrible at sharing my feelings, so I tend to try to keep things like that hidden, I guess.” Until I lose all of my resolve and do something idiotic like kiss you. “But I've felt...an attraction to you, ever since you first got here, and that has only grown the more I've gotten to know you.”

The only sound for a long time was her heavy breathing. I clenched my fingers into fists, waiting, still stupidly hoping, but each passing second confirmed what I should have realized all along. “Should I...assume that you don't feel the same way?” Of course you should assume, Riku. Obviously she's only seen you as a friend this whole time, and now you've probably ruined that.

“I don't know,” she finally spoke again, her voice merely a mumble. “It's not that I don't...I really don't know what I feel. It's just...I can't.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I'm so sorry, but I can't.”

She sounded so upset that my pity for myself was immediately replaced with concern for her. The tremble in her voice took me back to the night Aiden had attacked her. “You can't what?” I stepped closer to her, wanting to hold her again, but knowing that I shouldn't.

“I can't...care about anyone.” She was on the verge of tears, and understanding started to come over me. “Not just you. Anyone. I can't, because the last time I cared about somebody...”

“Yeah. I know.” Now I did reach out, feeling that she needed the comfort, but restrained myself to only touching her arms.

“That's the only relationship I've ever been in, so to me, being in a relationship means being controlled, and caged, and...and hurt, and I just...”

“You're not ready.” I was back to beating myself up again, because I should have known, I should have realized that she wouldn't be ready for anyone to make a move on her when she had just gotten out of such a terrible relationship. I had let my feelings for her cloud all of my judgment, and I hated myself for it. “I understand. You need time to heal.”

“I honestly don't know if I'm ever going to be ready. It might at least take me a really long time.” Her sobbing tore at my heart, but one small ray of hope poked its way through my despair. She hadn't completely turned me down. If she had not felt any kind of attraction to me at all, she could have just told me that. Everything she had said indicated that there was a chance she could return my feelings, someday. So maybe, just maybe...

“I'll wait.” I gently tipped her chin up toward me with one finger. Even though I couldn't see her tear-streaked face, I wanted her to see the honesty in mine. “Meli, you are the one bright spot in my dreary, dark world. Before you showed up in the basement that day, I had nothing left to live for except a promise to protect Sora. Now I have you, to look forward to seeing every morning, and to bring actual joy and laughter back into my life. It's not just that, though – you're more than just a friend. I...” Swallowing back my emotions, I forced myself to continue, knowing that I had to somehow let her know how much she really meant to me. “Like I said, I'm terrible at talking about my feelings, but...no one has ever made me feel the way that I do when I'm with you.”

My introverted side was screaming by now from the amount of torture I was putting it through, but I had to ignore it for just a little bit longer. There was more that needed to be said. “I will never, ever hurt you, Meli. I promise you that. Hurting you is the last thing in the universe that I would ever want to do. Do you know how much it killed me, seeing you hurting that night after he...?” I swallowed hard. “I think that was actually the first time I realized just how much I cared about you. But I understand your need to heal, and I will wait for as long as it takes. When you're ready, and if you want to...” Which, of course, was still a really big if. “I'll show you what being in a relationship is really supposed to be like. Okay?”

I held my breath as I waited for her to respond, hoping I hadn't said too much. “Okay,” she whispered after a moment. “I have no idea why you would care so much about somebody like me, but...thank you, for understanding.”

“Of course.” I suddenly remembered what had started all of this, back before I had ruined it all with my impulsiveness. Now I really needed to find a way to lighten the mood, to try to get her back to that happiness she had lost. “So, um...you want to get some ice cream or something? To celebrate your big win? You deserve it.”

She laughed a little through her tears, and my heart skipped a beat. “Oh, yeah. I had almost forgotten. I did win, didn't I?”  
  


I smiled. “Yeah, you did.”

“Okay. Ice cream sounds pretty good.”

The tension in my shoulders eased just a bit. Maybe I hadn't completely decimated our friendship, after all. “Good. Let's go, then.”

Chapter 23 Remix

(Runs parallel to chapter 23)

Riku's perspective

It had been so long, so long since Sora had gone into that stupid pod. Each and every day that passed was, in my mind, a failure on my part to save him, to do what needed to be done so that he could wake up and just be his happy, normal self again. I missed him. Back on the Islands, I had always had both Sora and Kairi around, shining their light on my darkness. The moment that I had set off on my own was the moment my troubles had begun in earnest, and now all I craved was a little of that light back in my life.

Speaking of which...the sound of the back door of the mansion opening reached my ears, and I turned my face toward the approaching footsteps. “Good morning.”

Meli yawned long and loudly, almost as if it was intentionally over-exaggerated. “Good morning.”

I found myself smiling despite my morose thoughts of only a moment before. Meli tended to have that affect on me, and I still wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. All I knew was that, though her light might not be quite as bright as my other friends', it was just as warm and inviting, and I was drawn to her in a way that I had never been drawn to anyone before. She was just so...perfect. From the way she spoke when she was sleepy – like right now – to the way she could keep up an argument even when there was nothing left to argue about, to the way her skin felt so soft and smooth against mine whenever we happened to touch during training. On more than one occasion I had been tempted to just reach out and grab one of her tiny little hands, to hold it the way I had when she had been injured by the Heartless. Lately, though, I had also caught myself thinking about taking it a few steps further than that – like maybe even kissing her.

I could feel the heat creep into my cheeks just from the thought, and I busied myself with standing so that my hair would hide my face until it passed. “I thought now that you had coffee, you were supposed to be more alert in the mornings.” The scent of the strong brew wafted from her.

“I said I would be less grumpy, not that I would be ready to go with the sunrise. Er...not that there is a sunrise, but...you know what I mean.” She yawned again. “Besides, I haven't quite finished it yet.”

“Well, why don't you do that, and start warming up, too. That should help wake you up. I wouldn't want to take advantage of your sleepiness when we spar.”

“Oh, uh-huh, sure you wouldn't.” She slurped the hot coffee. “Because you definitely don't enjoy beating me every single time.”

I smirked. “Of course I like winning. But in this case, since I'm training you, the real win would be for you to beat me.” She snort-laughed, but didn't respond. “It'll happen one of these days,” I assured her.

“Yeah, okay.” I could sense her walking toward me, but didn't expect the playful punch to my arm as she passed. My skin tingled at the touch, even through my coat.

A few minutes later, we were ready to begin our sparring match. I held back, watching the vague shadow that was Meli through my blindfold, ears alert for the sound of her movements, waiting for her to make the first move. She did, eventually, but only after taking her time positioning herself and deciding the best course of action. When we had first started out, she always wanted to dive straight into every fight right away, so this was a definite improvement.

I blocked her first swing over my right shoulder. Another came in toward my legs, and I jumped back to avoid it, surprising her with a blow to the side from the blunt edge of my sword. She stumbled, and I took the opportunity to cast Blizzard. Her leap out of the way was messy, landing her on her back in the dirt, but she was able to cast Dark Firaga, which had quickly become her favorite spell, right back at me. By the time I had blocked the incoming flames, she was on her feet again.

More ice erupted from the tip of Soul Eater, but suddenly Meli's shadow vanished out of the line of fire. I could no longer see her, but could feel the darkness coming straight at me and knew she was at full speed. My sword came up in front of my face just in time, but I was not expecting how much force she would be using coming straight out of that darkness-fueled run. Before I knew it, my feet were being swiped out from underneath me, and I landed flat on the ground. One of the spear tips of her Keyblade poked into my chest.

“Do you surrender?”

It took a few seconds before my brain fully registered the fact that she had just won the match. When it finally did, I couldn't keep a huge, goofy grin off of my face. “I've never been so proud to be beaten in my life. Congratulations, Meli!”

She huffed incredulously as she retracted her Keyblade. “I did it! I finally beat you!”

“I knew you could do it.” She had come so far in such a short amount of time, considering she had never had any kind of combat experience before. It hadn't taken me long to realize that she was a quick learner, and I had been expecting this day for a while now. My chest was nearly bursting with pride.

“I didn't,” she laughed. “I honestly wasn't sure this day would ever come.”

Her self-doubt had been her biggest obstacle all along, but I wasn't about to launch into another lecture about that right now. “Well, that just means that you need to have more faith in yourself,” was all I said, reaching up to take the hand that she had offered to me.

She helped me to my feet, and only then did I realize that we were holding hands, just like I had wanted. My heart stuttered, then flew into overdrive. I should have let go. I should have backed away a step or two, instead of continuing to stand so incredibly close to her. Maybe it was the emotional high that I was on from getting to see her succeed, but I didn't want to do either of those things. Her nearness was intoxicating. She smelled like coffee and sweat, of course, but also of her lilac shampoo, and somehow the combination was just...Meli, and I wanted to just keep breathing it in.

I leaned down closer to her, almost unable to stop myself. “I really am proud of you, Meli. You've come so far.” It was nearly a whisper. If I had spoken any louder, my voice probably would have cracked and betrayed how I was feeling at that moment. It was so foreign to me, this want. There had been crushes in school, sure, but this was completely different. I would never have dreamed of being any kind of forward with any of those girls. But right now she was the tide, pulling me in, and I didn't even care if I drowned.

Her shallow, panting breaths stopped suddenly, as if caught in her throat. She was flustered, I could tell, but she didn't try to pull her hand away or step back, and it gave me hope. Maybe she felt the same way about me that I did about her. Maybe she was just waiting for me to make the first move. My face began to heat up again. Could I? Should I?

“Thanks,” she whispered finally.

Her breath brushed across my lips, and I could stand it no longer. With a burst of courage, I bridged the gap between us and kissed her. At first she stiffened, and I almost yanked back, but just as quickly she relaxed, her lips parting slightly to mesh with mine. It may not have been my first kiss, but it was the first one I truly wanted to remember, the first one that wasn't completely awkward, the first one that was really just perfect, like her. I used the hand that wasn't holding hers to cup the back of her head, pulling her in even closer.

Then she grunted, jerked, and nearly fell back away from me. I reluctantly let her slide out of my grasp, heart still pounding. “What...what was that?”

My heart sank, and the guilt and shame that I had feared started to take over. “I'm sorry, I've wanted to do that for a really long time now, but...I shouldn't have just sprung it on you with no warning.” I rubbed the back of my neck, kicking myself inwardly for giving in to my desires like that.

“Why did you do that?” Every clearly overwhelmed word out of her mouth was like another punch to the gut. “Why would you...why would you do that?”

I sucked in a breath, trying to steady myself and garner the courage to speak the truth. “Because I care about you, Meli.” There, I'd said it. I was probably stupid for feeling that way, but at least now she knew. “Maybe you hadn't realized it before...” I had kinda thought that the way I was constantly losing my cool around her would have given her a hint, but I shouldn't have assumed. “I'm terrible at sharing my feelings, so I tend to try to keep things like that hidden, I guess.” Until I lose all of my resolve and do something idiotic like kiss you. “But I've felt...an attraction to you, ever since you first got here, and that has only grown the more I've gotten to know you.”

The only sound for a long time was her heavy breathing. I clenched my fingers into fists, waiting, still stupidly hoping, but each passing second confirmed what I should have realized all along. “Should I...assume that you don't feel the same way?” Of course you should assume, Riku. Obviously she's only seen you as a friend this whole time, and now you've probably ruined that.

“I don't know,” she finally spoke again, her voice merely a mumble. “It's not that I don't...I really don't know what I feel. It's just...I can't.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I'm so sorry, but I can't.”

She sounded so upset that my pity for myself was immediately replaced with concern for her. The tremble in her voice took me back to the night Aiden had attacked her. “You can't what?” I stepped closer to her, wanting to hold her again, but knowing that I shouldn't.

“I can't...care about anyone.” She was on the verge of tears, and understanding started to come over me. “Not just you. Anyone. I can't, because the last time I cared about somebody...”

“Yeah. I know.” Now I did reach out, feeling that she needed the comfort, but restrained myself to only touching her arms.

“That's the only relationship I've ever been in, so to me, being in a relationship means being controlled, and caged, and...and hurt, and I just...”

“You're not ready.” I was back to beating myself up again, because I should have known, I should have realized that she wouldn't be ready for anyone to make a move on her when she had just gotten out of such a terrible relationship. I had let my feelings for her cloud all of my judgment, and I hated myself for it. “I understand. You need time to heal.”

“I honestly don't know if I'm ever going to be ready. It might at least take me a really long time.” Her sobbing tore at my heart, but one small ray of hope poked its way through my despair. She hadn't completely turned me down. If she had not felt any kind of attraction to me at all, she could have just told me that. Everything she had said indicated that there was a chance she could return my feelings, someday. So maybe, just maybe...

“I'll wait.” I gently tipped her chin up toward me with one finger. Even though I couldn't see her tear-streaked face, I wanted her to see the honesty in mine. “Meli, you are the one bright spot in my dreary, dark world. Before you showed up in the basement that day, I had nothing left to live for except a promise to protect Sora. Now I have you, to look forward to seeing every morning, and to bring actual joy and laughter back into my life. It's not just that, though – you're more than just a friend. I...” Swallowing back my emotions, I forced myself to continue, knowing that I had to somehow let her know how much she really meant to me. “Like I said, I'm terrible at talking about my feelings, but...no one has ever made me feel the way that I do when I'm with you.”

My introverted side was screaming by now from the amount of torture I was putting it through, but I had to ignore it for just a little bit longer. There was more that needed to be said. “I will never, ever hurt you, Meli. I promise you that. Hurting you is the last thing in the universe that I would ever want to do. Do you know how much it killed me, seeing you hurting that night after he...?” I swallowed hard. “I think that was actually the first time I realized just how much I cared about you. But I understand your need to heal, and I will wait for as long as it takes. When you're ready, and if you want to...” Which, of course, was still a really big if. “I'll show you what being in a relationship is really supposed to be like. Okay?”

I held my breath as I waited for her to respond, hoping I hadn't said too much. “Okay,” she whispered after a moment. “I have no idea why you would care so much about somebody like me, but...thank you, for understanding.”

“Of course.” I suddenly remembered what had started all of this, back before I had ruined it all with my impulsiveness. Now I really needed to find a way to lighten the mood, to try to get her back to that happiness she had lost. “So, um...you want to get some ice cream or something? To celebrate your big win? You deserve it.”

She laughed a little through her tears, and my heart skipped a beat. “Oh, yeah. I had almost forgotten. I did win, didn't I?”  
  


I smiled. “Yeah, you did.”

“Okay. Ice cream sounds pretty good.”

The tension in my shoulders eased just a bit. Maybe I hadn't completely decimated our friendship, after all. “Good. Let's go, then.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This oneshot is pretty short, and isn't quite as exciting as some of the others, I will admit haha. But I mentioned in the actual story that Meli was imagining the Organization having a discussion about her, knowing that in canon they actually were having a meeting at that exact moment, so I thought I'd write about that meeting.
> 
> This takes place right after Sora and Meli run into the entire Organization in Hollow Bastion with Leon.

**Chapter 34.5**

(Falls between chapters 34 and 35)

_Xigbar's Perspective_

Leaving Sora and his friends behind in Hollow Bastion, Xigbar warped into the Organization's meeting room, where the other members were already starting to gather.

Xaldin was the first to speak up. “Do my eyes deceive me? Does he really have the power to wield the Keyblade? He is nothing but a boy.”

Leave it to Xaldin to play the part of the skeptic. “Give him a chance. It means he's straight as an arrow.” Xigbar pointed straight ahead to emphasize his point. “He's pure of heart, unlike all of us here.”

“He had better be, or else he's worthless.” Saix sounded perturbed, as always.

Luxord flipped a few of his ever-present playing cards out into his fingers, and Xigbar braced himself for the gambling pun that was sure to come. “I truly hope he's enjoying himself on his adventure. Maybe he'd like a hand in determining his fate.”

Demyx wasn't usually one to say much during these meetings, so Xigbar was a bit surprised when he joined in. “Hey, as long as it works in our favor,” he shrugged. “We can let him do what he wants for now. Then we'll all jump in if needed.”

“Those are bold words coming from you,” Xigbar sneered. “Are you saying you'll volunteer to take care of it if things go wrong? Huh?”

The reaction that got out of Demyx was expected. “What? Me? No, you have the wrong guy. I'm not comfortable with that.” He waved his hands frantically in front of his face.

“You act as though you have a conscience,” Xaldin remarked. “When was the last time any one of us felt anything?”

Luxord sighed. “Truer words were never spoken. Well, I suppose the fun will have to wait.”

Xigbar was growing impatient. “Enough with the small talk, already. Are none of you going mention little poppet with the Keyblade? Don't tell me I'm the only one who was caught off guard by that one.”

“No, I noticed her, as well,” Luxord replied. “I knew nothing of her existence until today.”

“I thought there was only one Keyblade bearer. When did we acquire another?” Xaldin asked.

Xigbar glared up at Xemnas, who had remained silent so far. “Anything you wanna share, Superior?”

The leader of the Organization was as stoic as ever. “This second Keyblade bearer has eluded my sight until now. However, her presence will not have any significant affect on the plans that we have already made. We will proceed as before, but we will also find out all that we can about this chosen of the Keyblade.”

“Having two Keyblade bearers killing the Heartless should at least help us reach the end of our game sooner,” Luxord pointed out.

“Perhaps she may be of some use other than just fighting the Heartless,” Saix suggested.

Xemnas gave one nod. “Perhaps. Rest assured, she will play her part in what is to come.” Taking a breath, he surveyed the room. “Gentlemen. The hero of the Keyblade has embarked on a new adventure. Make sure it is one he will remember. Now go.”

Watching the others disappear into their corridors, Xigbar smirked. Whoever this new kid was, he had promised her that he'd keep his eye on her, and that's exactly what he planned on doing. Maybe he should just go ahead and catch up with her now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things take a more fun, lighthearted turn this week! Since I skimmed over most of Meli's travels with Sora and co, I figured I would include at least one oneshot from that time. What better subject to focus on than everyone's favorite world-traveling magic – transformations! You actually get three shots in one here.
> 
> These mini-shots take place in Pride Lands, Halloweentown, and Christmas Town, respectively.

**Chapter 34.5**

(Falls in the middle of chapter 34)

_Meli's Perspective_

Something was weird. Why did I feel so weird? I felt...short. Almost like I was on my hands and knees. Blinking away the effects of disembarking from my brain, I glanced down and nearly fell over with surprise. Were those...paws?

“Hey, check us out!” Sora cackled.

I whipped my head around to see a small brown lion only a few feet away from me, sitting back on his haunches and examining his front paws. For a moment fear rose up in my throat, but then the lion laughed again. Suddenly I noticed the familiar spiky hair, now in mane form, and the silver crown dangling from a chain around his neck. “S..Sora?”

Lion-Sora dropped his paws back onto the dusty ground and grinned toothily at me. “Hey, Mel, you look awesome, too!”

“I...what?” I looked down again, taking the time now to really realize what I was looking at. Dark, reddish-brown fur covered wide, fluffy paws where my hands should have been. I lifted one, somehow amazed to see the foreign limb actually respond to my will, and flexed, watching in fascination as sharp claws poked out from under the fur. “Am I a...lion?”

“You sure are!” Donald affirmed.

I turned to look at him, and cocked my head to the side to take in his new form. He didn't really actually look that much different, to be honest, having simply transformed into a different kind of bird. “I'm not sure what you are, but...hey, maybe you can actually fly now!”

Donald crossed his wings and glared. “Watch it.”

“What am I? I can't tell!”

Turning once more, I busted out laughing as I finally saw Goofy. “You're...you...oh gosh, Goofy, you look ridiculous!”

The giant turtle with a dog head rocked side to side, trying to look at his own feet. “Do I? I feel kinda funny, a-hyuck.”

“I'm sorry.” I lifted one paw and swiped away the tears that had formed in my eyes, trying to contain my laughter. “I just was not expecting...that.”

“So, this seems like it's gonna be a pretty interesting world.” Sora flicked his tail back and forth as if trying to figure out how everything worked. “Not sure how we're gonna fight any Heartless we see like this, but I bet we'll figure it out.”

“We might wanna just concentrate on figuring out how to walk first,” I commented dryly.

“It's not that bad!” Goofy exclaimed. “Look, I'm doin' it!” He waddled by me, and I almost started cracking up again.

“Okay, well if you can do it, then I'm sure Sora and I can, too.” I shifted each of my paws in the dirt one by one, focusing on the muscles required. “Alright, I'm just gonna go for it. No use thinking about it too hard, right?”

“Right!” Sora agreed.

“Alright, here goes.” My plan was to leap gracefully forward. The result was somehow my face smacking the ground and my back end flying up over my head, landing me hard on my back. I stared up at the sky in a daze, unsure of what exactly had just happened, while all three of my companions laughed in the background.

“That's the funniest thing I've ever seen!”

Rolling over, I shot Donald a ferocious look, but he just continued guffawing and slapping the ground. “I'd like to see you try it,” I hissed.

“That's alright, I'll just stick with my flying, thank you very much.” With a toss of his head, he spread out his wings and gave a few strong flaps. He lifted off the ground just barely, then lost his balance and flipped over to land on his back, too.

Sora and Goofy burst into giggles again, and I joined in. “Serves you right.”

.0.0.O.0.0.

“You're gonna love this world, Mel! It's one of my favorites!”

I was beginning to think that every world we visited was Sora's 'favorite', but he did seem particularly excited about this one. “Oh yeah? What's special about this world?”

“It's Halloween all the time!” He did a little jig in his chair as he announced this. “There's all these spooky decorations, and a cemetery, and a ghost dog...”

“And we all get to wear disguises!” Goofy put in.

“Thanks to my magic, of course,” Donald pointed out proudly.

I smiled. “Sounds pretty fun.” I had never been super into the spooky side of Halloween, but I did love seeing all the costumes and decorations.

“You bet it is!” Sora jumped up and beckoned us to follow him. “So what are we waiting for? Let's go!”

When we had warped down and were safely on solid ground in the dark town, I immediately turned to examine everyone's new looks. “Sora...vampire, I'm guessing?”

He flashed a smile that was complete with fangs from under his pumpkin mask. “Yep!”

“Donald...” I cringed when I saw his mummy attire. “Ugh, you're like...missing half of your body!”

“What did you expect, some crummy costumes? These are professional disguises!”

“They didn't have to be gross, though.” I shook my head and moved on to Goofy. “I think you're a zombie? The two different color eyes are pretty cool...in a freaky sort of way.”

“Your eyes are kinda freaky, too,” Goofy responded.

I blinked self-consciously. “Are they?”

“Yeah, you look so scary, Mel!” Sora exclaimed.

I was a little unsure if I actually wanted to see for myself, but I fumbled in my pocket for my mirror, anyway, noticing as I did that my clothes hadn't changed too much. They seemed faded, though, and each piece was ragged on the bottom, like it had been shredded. When I held up my hand with the mirror in it, I could also see that my arm was super pale, almost to the point of being transparent. Swallowing, I finally looked into the mirror. “Whoa.”

“Isn't it cool?” Sora prodded excitedly.

“It's...” I shut my eyes, then opened them again, as if I expected the effect to suddenly disappear. My face, like my arm, was pure white, and my hair, though still purple, was faded to a dull, lifeless shade. But the weirdest part, by far, was my eyes – they were almost as white as my face, completely clouded over. I looked...dead, and I wasn't really sure how to feel about that. “Freaky.”

.0.0.O.0.0.

Tumbling out into the snow, I shot up straight and wrapped my arms around myself. “Brr!” I had hoped maybe after Land of Dragons that we were done with the whole trekking through the snow thing, but no, we just had to come to the North Pole.

“Cool!” Sora drew out the word as if he was looking at the most awesome thing he had ever seen.

Glancing over, I noticed that he was staring down the hill in front of us, and followed his gaze to see a quaint little town sparkling with Christmas lights down below us. Then I did a double take, and took in Sora's appearance. “Wait, did we change clothes again?” His outfit didn't look that much different, but it did now more resemble a goth Santa suit rather than a vampire costume.

“Huh?” Sora looked down at his own clothes, then to Donald and Goofy. “Hey, look at you guys!”

“Wak!” Donald cried. I put a hand over my mouth to hide the grin that had crept onto my face. “I'm a snowduck!”

“Also, you seem to have a bucket on your head,” I pointed out.

“What? Why?” He fumbled at the smashed-in bucket with his stick arms, a scowl on his face.

“Gawrsh, this nose is a little distractin',” Goofy remarked. He seemed to have turned into some kind of dog-reindeer hybrid, complete with flashing red nose.

“I like your curly antlers, though.” I pointed to the top of his head, and he cut his eyes up, trying to see.

“A-hyuck, well thank ya Mel! And you make a pretty cute elf!”

Elf? Oh boy. Scrunching my eyes shut, I took a deep breath before looking down at my own outfit. I was almost blinded by the sight of it. The top was green, but with sleeves that were red, lime green, and gold striped. The skirt was green with red, lime green and gold polka dots, and everything was lined with white fur. Underneath were peppermint striped leggings, and my black boots now had white puff balls on the toes. I reached up to my head, and yep, there was an elf hat to complete the look.

“Seriously? Could we just pick one or two colors and one pattern and stick with that? I look like a walking candy store!” I flopped back onto my back in the snow. “Can I go back to being dead now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already posted this artwork once, with the main story, but here it is again for anyone who wants to see.  
> https://www.instagram.com/p/B3cCWwPghde/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's request originally came from FFN user darkenedharmonies, and was also mentioned by FFN user BlissfulNightRain. It's Sora bonding time! Or at least, a glimpse at what Sora and Meli's relationship was like while they were traveling together. We'll get a different side of their relationship pretty soon, in Inferno's Edge (the sequel to Sorrow's Promise). I had fun writing this, since it was my first time doing Sora in first person. Had to challenge myself a little bit to find his voice, and not use all of the same vocabulary that I would use with other people. Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 34.5...again!**

(Falls in the middle of chapter 34)

_Sora's perspective_

Landing in a brand new world was, without a doubt, my very favorite part of traveling. There was no way of telling what kind of adventures were in store for us ahead, and though it was kinda terrifying in a way, it was a delicious terror. Like, the watching horror movies, telling scary stories at night, staring down the first hill of the roller coaster at the carnival kind of terror. I could just hear Riku in my head, matter-of-factly stating, “That's called adrenaline, Sora.” I didn't care what it was called, though. I was gonna call it delicious terror.

The world that we had just walked out of the Gummi Ship into was particularly terrifying, in a way that raised goosebumps on my arms. It reminded me of Halloweentown, except that instead of dilapidated houses and a guillotine, I was looking at a deep, spooky forest, and a castle that was probably even bigger than the one in Hollow Bastion. The huge iron gates were definitely meant to discourage visitors, but of course that never stopped Donald, Goofy, and me. We were marching right up to them when I realized that Meli wasn't with us.

Stopping in my tracks, I spun around and spotted her still standing next to the ship, looking lost in thought. Of course, she looked like that a lot, almost all the time when she wasn't fighting Heartless or being talked to by one of us. “Hey, Meli! You coming?”

“Hm?” She broke out of her daze, staring blankly at me. “Oh, yeah. Sorry.” She did that a lot, too – apologize for little things. “I just...this world...”

I glanced around at the dark, towering trees again, then grinned. “You scared?” It was half teasing, half genuinely concerned. She didn't seem like the type to be easily spooked, but then again, I barely knew her. She had hardly spoken a word at Yen Sid's tower and in Hollow Bastion, and in Land of Dragons we had been so busy the whole time that there wasn't any time for chatting. All I had found out about her there was that she was good with her Keyblade, and a natural in big Heartless fights. In between worlds, on the Gummi Ship, we all tried to talking to her when we weren't taking turns sleeping, and while she was more than willing to carry on a conversation, they always ended without me feeling like I had gotten to know her any better.

“No,” she answered quickly, shaking her head. “It just...reminds me of...some things.” There it was again, that sad voice she kept using, the one that sounded like her brain was actually in a totally different time or place. But just as quickly, she met my eyes and broke into a smile. “Sorry to hold things up. I'm ready now.”

We walked through the gates together, into the courtyard where Donald and Goofy were waiting for us. Donald was tapping his foot impatiently, of course, but Goofy just gave us one of his warm smiles and turned to lead the way toward the castle.

“Wait...are we actually going in there?” Meli asked incredulously.

“Sure! Why not?”

“Well, um...'cause it looks like it might be haunted?” she ventured. “Or, you know, might belong to someone...or something...that really doesn't want us here?”

Donald scoffed. “Your imagination is just as bad as Sora's. We'll be fine! Besides, we've got to check the place out for Heartless.”

I thought I heard her mumble something under her breath about “beasts”, but didn't have time to dwell on it. Goofy had given up on knocking already and was opening the gigantic front door of the castle and strolling inside. Donald ran in after him, not about to be left out, and Meli and I brought up the rear.

A long, red carpet stretched out in front of us, with stone columns standing on either side. The only light in the room came from a few candles, and they made the shadows in the dark corners dance eerily.

“Hey, what is this place?” I asked as Donald and Goofy came to a stop in the middle of the room.

“It's huge!” Donald exclaimed.

“And sorta gloomy, don't ya think?” Goofy commented.

“Well there's the understatement of the century,” Meli muttered from just behind me.

“I wonder who lives here?” Donald continued.

Just then, a thundering roar shook the castle. Donald leapt so far off the floor that it would have been hilarious, if I hadn't been just as startled myself. Gulping, I glanced at Meli, who was giving me a look that said something like, “Didn't I warn you?”

“Hey, does anybody else recognize that?” Goofy asked.

I crossed my arms and put a hand to my chin, thinking, as another roar echoed around us. It did seem a little familiar. “Hey! That's the Beast!”

“Yeah,” Donald agreed.

“Wait, you guys know whatever that thing is?”

I turned to grin at Meli. “Yeah, of course! Beast helped us out on our last adventure!”

“Maybe we should check up on him,” Goofy suggested.

Behind him, a darker shadow than the rest in the room slipped quickly across the floor. “Look!” I pointed as the Heartless crept through a nearby door.

“C'mon!” Donald shouted, and all four of us took off at a run to the next room.

Donald was the first to arrive, poking his head through the door and looking around. “Where did it go?”

Goofy, Meli, and I followed, but there was no sign of the rogue Heartless anywhere. Even its shadow seemed to have vanished. The only things to be seen were a roaring fireplace, a few paintings and sculptures, and a rose underneath a glass dome sitting on a table.

“Found it!” Donald squawked.

At that moment, several other Heartless popped up out of the floor, too, nearly surrounding us. Mega-Shadows. They definitely weren't the worst enemies possible, but put enough of them together and they could be a major pain, which is exactly what these turned out to be. They just kept coming, and coming, and coming, until all of us were panting and sweating and ready to drop.

“Aw, c'mon, enough already!” I groaned.

“Somebody help us!” Donald yelled.

Right on cue, the door burst open, and Beast prowled in. Heartless jumped at him from all sides, but he just swatted them away like they were flies, and they vanished in puffs of smoke as they smashed into the walls. Donald and Goofy and I watched him happily, but out of the corner of my eye I could see Meli take several uncertain steps back. I couldn't really blame her, Beast was a pretty intimidating guy if you didn't know him.

When the Heartless were all gone, I grinned and waved at him. “Just in time!”

His response was to stalk right past, knocking me to the side with a single sweep of his arm. Donald and Goofy got the same treatment with the other arm. Only Meli was spared, since she had retreated to a corner out of the way. Beast picked up the dome with the rose inside, cradled it to his chest, and turned and left the room without a single word.

I sat up to watch him go, more bothered by his behavior than by the rough fall, but as soon as he was a safe distance away, Meli stumbled to my side. “Are you okay?”

Glancing at her, I saw genuine concern and fear in her eyes. “Yeah, I'm fine, no big deal. Takes more than that to hurt me.”

“But...he hit you.” Her voice came out all trembly sounding, and that surprised me. She didn't seem like the type to let something so small get to her.

I scratched the back of my head, a little uncomfortable and definitely confused by everything that had just happened. “Yeah...weird, huh? That really wasn't like him.” Her expression still didn't change. “But I'm okay, really. I promise.”

Clambering to my feet, I joined Donald and Goofy in staring at the door. “Do ya think maybe he forgot who we were?” Goofy mused.

“With this many Heartless around, something must be up,” I responded.

Donald massaged the side of his head irritably. “Why'd he have to do that?”

“Maybe we should go.” Meli stepped up next to me, rubbing her hand up and down her arm. “It doesn't seem safe here.”

“No way, Beast is our friend!” I shook my head vigorously. “We've gotta see if we can help him.”

We found Belle first, who was immensely happy to see us, and thankfully seemed to get Meli into a little better mood by giving Donald a huge hug and making him mad. She told us that Beast just hadn't been himself lately, and asked us to help some friends of theirs that he had locked up. After we had done that, and had heard the story of how an enchantress had cast a spell on all of them, we went to Beast's room to try to talk to him.

Unfortunately, when we got there we found some Organization dude. He left pretty quickly, but Beast was still not in the mood to talk to us, and we ended up having to fight him, much to my dismay. Finally, he seemed to come to his senses. When we told him that he had locked up his friends, he was upset. He told us that Xaldin, the Organization dude, had tried to control him using his anger.

“We know you're good inside,” Goofy assured him.

“He's right, Master,” the clock named Cogsworth piped up. “We've all seen how kind you can be. After all...Belle can see the goodness in your heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to...”

“Belle!” Beast exclaimed suddenly. Then he hung his head with a sigh. “I've mistreated her...I've mistreated her and been so selfish.”

I heard a small noise, maybe a huff of air, from Meli, and cut my eyes over to look at her. She had been super quiet most of the time we were here, even more so than usual, and when I had seen her right after the fight with Beast she looked a little shaken. Now, though, the expression on her face was one of anger. I wished I could figure out what was going on in her brain, why it was that this particular world seemed to have her so on edge.

We talked Beast into going to talk to Belle, and headed off back through the castle to find her. Meli trailed several paces behind everyone else, and I dropped back to walk next to her. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah. I'm fine.”

I raised an eyebrow at her curt response. “You don't seem too fine.”

“I just...” She raised her head, glaring at the back of Beast. “I don't like him. At all.”

“Aw, Beast really isn't a bad guy, I swear. You heard what Cogsworth said, he's got a good heart. It's just the Organization that's got him messed up in the head right now.”

She gave a short laugh that didn't sound like she was at all amused. “Yeah, there's always some excuse, isn't there?”

I wrinkled my nose, confused. “I don't–”

“Listen.” Meli stopped walking suddenly, and I did the same, turning to face her. “I don't know what Belle's story is, why she's here, but...if he's hurting her, she needs to get out. We need to get her out.”

Was that what she was so worried about? “I'd be really surprised if he had hurt Belle. He cares about her way too much. And like I said, he's actually a good guy–”

“It doesn't matter! They're never bad guys, they always care!” I blinked at her in shock as she recovered from her outburst by running her fingers through her hair. “Sorry. But...” Taking a deep breath, she met my eyes. “I need you to swear to me, Sora, that if we find out that he's hurt her, even once, we'll get her out of here.”

Slowly, I nodded, and forced a small smile onto my face. “Yeah. Yeah, no problem. We can do that.”

Her shoulders dropped a tiny bit, and she nodded, too. “Thanks.”

We started walking again, quickly now to catch up with the others, but my mind was spinning from that conversation. Every time I hoped I would learn a little bit more about Meli, I just ended up being more bewildered. It would have been so much easier if she would just tell me what she was thinking, instead of speaking in riddles and avoiding questions.

Belle was in the ballroom, but of course, so was a giant Heartless that took forever to defeat. Once it was gone, Beast and Belle were able to reunite, and they both seemed relieved to see each other.

“Belle... I-I'm sorry, I...wasn't myself. I hope I haven't done anything to hurt you.”

Meli was standing right next to me with her arms folded rigidly across her chest, watching the exchange intently. After our conversation, even I went a bit stiff then, waiting to hear Belle's answer. She didn't speak yet, though, only smiled and shook her head, and both Beast and I visibly relaxed. Meli, on the other hand, did not.

“Forgive me,” Beast continued.

“I know you weren't yourself. You don't have to apologize,” Belle replied.

A couple of minutes later, my Keyblade appeared in my hand on its own volition, and I was able to unlock the gate to the next world. When the light had cleared and my vision returned to the ballroom, Meli had pulled Belle over to the side and was talking to her quietly. Concerned, I crossed to them.

“Everything okay?”

Belle flashed me her usual bright smile. “Yes, everything is fine.” Turning to Meli, she placed a gentle hand on her arm. “Thank you, Meli. You're very kind to worry about me. But please, rest assured that I'm alright. I trust Beast not to harm me, and I'm confident that we'll be able to get past all of this soon.”

Meli still didn't seem all that convinced, but she smiled, anyway, then backed off to rejoin Donald and Goofy. Before I could walk away, though, Belle grabbed my shoulder.

“Look after that one. She carries a deep sadness with her.”

Frowning, I looked to Meli, then back to Belle, before smiling again. “No worries. I will.”

That night, lying on my back in the Gummi Ship bunk as we hurtled through space, I started thinking about what Belle had said again. Meli was...sad. I had known that already, really, though I hadn't necessarily thought to put a name to it. I wished I knew what it was she was so sad about.

Furrowing my brow, I tucked my hands underneath my head and tried to think if I had learned anything else noteable about Meli that day, through all the weird, confusing moments we had had. Meli...didn't trust very easily. That was another thing I had already suspected, based on her interactions with the three of us, but today had kinda confirmed that for me. She didn't want to trust Beast, no matter what anyone else had to say about him.

I remembered her rushing to check on me after Beast had hit me, and her talking to Belle to make sure she was really okay, and thought of one more trait that actually made me smile. Meli...cared about people. She might not want to admit it, but it was definitely true. And that...that was something we had in common. That made me realize that despite whatever differences or walls came between us, she was the type of person who could be a friend.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This short oneshot I think I originally wrote to give you guys a little peek at what Saix and Xemnas were actually up to in the other universe, since Meli never did really find out in Sorrow's Promise. Then I ended up editing the chapter (SPOILERS for the end of SP) where Aiden reappears to give a little more of a hint at what had been going on, mainly because I had refined the idea for myself while writing the sequel. I then edited this oneshot to reflect those changes. So now in this chapter you're getting a tiny bit more clarification about what they were doing, as well as a tiny bit of foreshadowing for Inferno's Edge (oooooooohh)!
> 
> This takes place sometime during the middle of Meli's stay at The Castle That Never Was, probably close to the end.

**Chapter 41.5**

(Falls in the middle of chapter 41)

_Saix's Perspective_

“You wanted to see me?” Saix wasted no time as he stepped out onto the rooftop from his dark corridor. He had plenty of other things that he could be doing right now, but of course no one could ignore a summons from the Superior.

Xemnas didn't turn to face him, but continue gazing up at Kingdom Hearts as he so often did. “Every day she grows bigger and more beautiful,” he sighed. “The Keyblade bearer is doing his job well.” As if on cue, tiny pink hearts appeared from the horizon, floating up to join with the giant glowing heart in the sky. “Yes, Kingdom Hearts, feast! Our time is nearly at hand!”

Saix cleared his throat lightly, trying not to sound too impatient, but unsure if Xemnas still remembered that he was standing there. The Superior's gaze lingered for just a moment longer, then he finally turned to address Saix. “How is your search coming along?”

“Nothing new to report,” Saix admitted reluctantly. “I have revisited the doppelgangers of myself and Numbers VIII, IX, and XII, but they still refuse to listen to me. They seem to have no interest in coming to this universe at all, no matter how enticing I make it out to be. And other than those, I have not been able to locate any other doppelgangers.” The whole thing was quite frustrating, if he was honest. It felt like a hopeless endeavor, but Xemnas had been very insistent that this path be taken, even though he wouldn't share his exact reasons. Only that it had something to do with a backup plan, which didn't make any sense to Saix. Kingdom Hearts was nearly complete, which meant they should all be getting their hearts back soon. Why would they need more members at this point, especially fully human doppelgangers of the members they already had?

“Keep searching,” Xemnas returned. “The universe may be vast, but it is not infinite. And keep revisiting the ones you have found, as well. Sooner or later I believe that they will give in.”

Saix clenched his teeth, biting back a sigh. “Yes, of course.” At least he had that stupid, insolent girl that he could take his disdain for this task out on.

“How is the portal-maker?” Xemnas asked, as if reading his mind. “Does she continue to obey well?”

“Without question,” Saix nodded, a smirk of satisfaction crossing his lips. “Vexen's tools have worked quite well.” He paused, frowning again. “There is the issue, however, of her meals...”

“What kind of an issue?”

“She's been giving the majority of her food to the other prisoner,” Saix explained. “I have not yet confronted her about it, so I do not know her reasoning. What would you suggest I do?”

Xemnas waved a hand dismissively. “As long as she remains alive and able to open portals, it is of no concern to me whether or not she starves herself. Until she can no longer perform her duties, leave her be.”

“Very well.” Saix gave a slight bow, then glanced back up at Xemnas. “Was that all?”

“Yes. Go, and report back to me if you find anything of interest.”

“Of course.” Opening another dark corridor, Saix exited quickly and made his way back to the laboratory. Apparently he had some more searching to do, so he might as well start right now.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's request comes to us from FFN user coolmegan123! She wanted to know what the rest of the Organization might have been thinking about Meli's capture. This was actually a lot more difficult than I originally thought it would be, mainly because there were so few Organization members left at that point to include. For the briefest second I got excited because I realized that Axel was still alive, but then of course remembered that he had already defected. It would have been fun to see what he thought about her being captured, since they had actually met. Anyway, then I thought I was going to center most of it around Demyx, since he seemed the most likely to be sympathetic, but realized as I started writing that he wasn't around anymore, either. So yeah, I don't know if this ended up being exactly what she was hoping for, but it was the best I could do with the literal four members that were left! Also, I had to throw in a super sneaky moment at the end, so...enjoy!

**Chapter 41.5**

(Falls between chapters 41 and 42)

_General third person perspective_

The Grey Area had never been a bustling, perky place to be, but these days even at its busiest it was nearly empty and mostly silent. One might could have even called it depressing, if any of the occupants of the castle had been able to feel such an emotion.

“It certainly has been quiet around here since the Nocturne met his demise,” Luxord mused, shuffling his ever-present deck of cards. He glanced over at Xaldin, who was on the sofa opposite him with his arms crossed, staring into space. “The Keyblade bearer is picking us all off one by one. Makes you wonder which of us will be next.”

Xaldin merely grunted in response. Xigbar, however, strolled into the room with a chuckle. “Aw, don't be so pessimistic, Luxy. You gotta have a little faith in the Superior and his plans.”

“Are you saying that Xemnas planned for all the others to die?” Luxord frowned, flicking one card up off the deck to study it. “Or perhaps he plans for all of us to die.”

“Careful what you say about the Superior. You wouldn't want to be counted among the traitors to this Organization.” This warning came from Saix, who entered with as stoic an expression as ever.

Luxord shrugged casually. “You can't blame a fellow for wondering what our plans actually are.”

“To get our hearts back,” Saix snipped. “The same goal that we have always had.” Crossing his arms, he turned to Xaldin. “Number III, return to Beast's Castle and continue your mission there.”

Grunting again, Xaldin opened a corridor and disappeared.

“Number X, you will continue your mission in Port Royal.”

With a wave of his hand, Luxord made the deck of cards vanish, then rose to his feet. “But of course.” Pausing, he raised a hand to his chin in thought. “Tell me, whatever happened to the second young Keywielder that we were taking turns following for a while? Are either of you still keeping an eye on her?”

Saix returned his gaze steadily for a long moment, as if trying to decide his motives, before responding. “So to speak. The Superior decided that she was useful enough to be brought in.”

One of Luxord's eyebrows went up. “She's here?”

“She's in the dungeon with our other guest, and it is my assigned mission to do whatever it takes to make her help us.”

It was obvious from the way he lingered that Luxord wanted to ask more questions, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, he gave a nod, then disappeared into his own corridor.

“When did that development happen?”

Saix turned to see Xigbar leaning lazily against the wall. “The girl has been my mission for quite some time now, you know that.”

“Yeah, I knew you were the only one following her, obviously, after everyone else got taken off that duty,” Xigbar answered with a wave of his gloved hand. “I wanna know why she was brought in. What did Xemnas see in her that made her stand out from Sora?”

Saix pressed his lips into a thin line. “Perhaps you should ask the Superior.”

Straightening, Xigbar began walking closer with a slow swagger. “Perhaps you should remember that I am your superior. I could ask Xemnas, sure, and he'd tell me. But I'm asking you. Why was little poppet brought in?”

“She has a special ability,” Saix finally relented after glaring at his coworker for a moment longer. “She can create portals into parallel universes.”

The only sign of any interest from Xigbar was a brief flash in his one golden eye. “Is that so.”

“If you want further information about what Xemnas wants with this ability, you'll have to ask him yourself. I'll say no more.” Turning on his heel, Saix strode purposefully out of the Grey Area in the direction of the laboratory.

“Oh, I will,” Xigbar commented just before the other man was gone. Placing both hands on his hips, he stared at the empty space where he had disappeared, looking deep in thought. “Little poppet, huh?” A smirk played on his lips, and he gave a little nod. “And then there were six.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the idea for this oneshot based on the sentence in Sorrow's Promise that says Saix left Meli "sitting in various spots, sometimes in a back alley, or an abandoned shed, or just tucked away in a corner where no one would notice". I wanted to give a little more of a glimpse into the kinds of things Meli went through during her time with the Organization.
> 
> Thank you to Enamis09 for helping with the French bits in this chapter!
> 
> This, like the last chapters, takes place sometime while Meli is captive.

**Chapter 42.5**

(Falls in the middle of chapter 42)

_Random Citizen's Perspective_

The last thing that he had expected to see when he opened the door to his shed was a stranger sitting inside. But there she was, huddled in the corner, staring up at him with wide, fearful eyes. He had almost missed her to start with, it was so dark in the room and she was so slight. She almost looked more like _un fant_ _ô_ _me_ than an actual human being.

“ _Qu'est-ce que c'est? Que fais-tu ici?_ ” he demanded, shaken by her unexpected appearance.

The girl shook her head frantically, spewing out a stream of mumbled words. Was she speaking English? How did _une fille Anglaise_ end up homeless, like she obviously was, in the suburbs of Paris? His own English was limited, but he caught a few things she was saying - “sorry”, “please”, “wait here”.

“I am sorry.” He spoke slowly, deliberately, making sure to enunciate each word. “You not be here.” Just in case his words were not clear, he shook his head and gestured towards the door.

The girl's eyes immediately welled up with tears. “Please, _monsieur_.”

He felt sorry for her, he really did. But he was in a hurry to get back inside to his children, and there were expensive tools in this shed. He did not have the time to struggle through a conversation in a foreign language, nor could he dare to let her stay here. “You go,” he stated firmly, pointing to the door once more. It's not like the weather was bad outside. She would be fine.

The tears spilled over onto the girl's cheeks as she struggled to her feet and shuffled past him, arms wrapped around her stomach. “I'm sorry,” she whispered again.

He merely waved her on, then proceeded to grab what he had come out here for. When he came back out a minute later, making sure to lock the shed door behind him this time, he spotted the girl a few yards away, sitting cross-legged at the base of a tree next to the road. _La pauvre chose._

Over the next thirty or so minutes, he couldn't help but glance out the window from time to time, seeing if she was still there. Every time, she looked like she hadn't even changed positions at all. When he was just about to forget about her altogether, he heard what sounded like a scream from outside, and rushed back to the window. Someone in a long, black coat was bent over the girl. Even from this distance, he could see the pain etched into her features, could tell from the way she was leaning forward that she wanted to curl in on herself, but the person in the coat was holding her head back by a fistful of hair.

Shocked, he wavered by the window. Should he go out and try to stop whatever was happening? It wasn't really any of his business. But then again, perhaps he was at least partially at fault for her being attacked. Mustering his courage, he turned and jogged through the house to the back door, throwing it open before he could change his mind.

They were gone. Both the girl and the black-coated figure had disappeared, leaving no trace of their presence behind. “ _Qu'est-_ _ce que..._ _?_ ” he muttered to himself. Perhaps it was time he gave into his wife's requests to move to the country. Things were getting too strange around here.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably went way longer than I needed to with this one, but I wanted to include everything I could. This takes place as everyone is arriving at The Castle That Never Was for the endgame, when Saix is forcing Meli to fight. As requested by FFN user Enamis09!

**Chapter 43/44 Remix**

(Runs parallel to chapters 43 and 44)

_Riku's Perspective_

The Organization's fortress was like a labyrinth – a completely disorienting maze of hallways, with who knows what kind of danger lurking around each corner. I was glad that I actually had the use of my eyes for this task, though it crossed my mind that wearing the blindfold and relying on my other senses might actually be easier. Shutting my eyes, I exhaled slowly, listening for any signs of life. There, on the floor above me. Two or more voices were having a conversation.

It was almost surreal, thinking that this whole ordeal was almost at an end. Sora and the others had finally found their way to The World That Never Was, and would be arriving at the castle soon, if they hadn't already. I trusted that my friend and his friends would make short work of whatever Organization members they came across, as they had so far on their journey.

Meanwhile, DiZ – or, Ansem the Wise, I supposed I should be calling him now – and I had our own plans to carry out. He was ahead of me, heading up as high as he could manage with his Kingdom Hearts-destroying contraption. Both of us had serious doubts about whether or not the thing would actually work, but it was worth a shot.

At the same time, Naminé was on a mission to rescue Kairi. She had volunteered to come along when I told her what we were doing, and it was decided that she would be the best person for that job. My job was scouting, trying to get an idea of the layout of this place, making sure the girls had a clear path to escape, and, though I hadn't mentioned this part to anyone else, looking for any signs of Meli. I was hoping I wouldn't find any. I didn't want here to be the answer of where she was, but after weeks of searching I hadn't found her anywhere else.

When I reached the top of the ramp I had been navigating, I was met with two giant Berserker Nobodies. Peering around them, I could see both Naminé and Kairi on the stairs to the next level, facing off against someone in an Organization coat.

“If I had a heart, this is where I would die of laughter,” the man was sneering.

Not wasting another moment, I summoned Way to the Dawn and let loose a barrage of hits on the back of the first Berserker. It never saw me coming, and fell to the ground with a crash. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the man turn to face me, but I didn't acknowledge him until I made short work of the second Berserker.

“You...didn't Roxas take care of you?”

Dropping my Keyblade to my side, I glared at him, not at all appreciating the reference to that particular fight. I was quickly distracted, however, by the small figure whose shoulder he was clamped down on. Could it be? Her back was turned to me and her hood was up, but what I could see of her outfit was very familiar.

“You can take it from here, Riku.”

I flicked my eyes up to Naminé and resisted the urge to growl with frustration. Hadn't I specifically told her that Sora and Kairi never needed to know that it was me?

It was too late now, though. Kairi straightened up and looked from Naminé to me with surprise and confusion on her face. “Riku?”

Okay, it was time to send this guy packing so that these girls – all three of them – could be on their way. If that was really Meli, the possessive hand on her shoulder was making me very angry. Dismissing my Keyblade, I blasted the blue-haired man with dark energy from my hand, which he blocked with crossed arms before back flipping away. Before he could completely recover, I rushed forward and slammed him up against the wall. He wheezed slightly as his breath left him, but then simply smirked and sank back into a dark corridor.

I had every intention of following him. The girls would be able to continue through the castle now, and if I could get rid of this guy then he'd be one less for Sora to worry about later. Out of nowhere, though, a dog ran up to me, barking, startling me and making me hesitate. Kairi was right on his heels, staring up at me eagerly. She wanted to know, wanted to see my face. It was the last thing in the world that I had wanted, but...could I really stop her now, when Naminé had specifically called me out?

Her big blue eyes searched underneath the darkness of my hood. She was different, I noticed for the first time. Familiar, unchanged in many ways, but much older and more mature than she had been when we had left her. Lifting her delicate hands towards my face, she paused, uncertain, then reached up and pushed back my hood. I turned my head away immediately, too ashamed to watch her reaction.

“But...I thought you said...”

Naminé stepped forward. “It is Riku. You just have to look past his appearance. Look at his heart.”

After a moment, small fingers hooked around mine. I watched her in my periphery as she closed her eyes and drew in a breath, unconsciously holding my own. Then her eyes flew open again and she grinned. “It is you! But I don't understand, how...?”

“I'll have to explain later. We don't have time right now.”

A throat cleared loudly behind us, and I whirled around to see the girl from before watching us. “Meli!” I was certain now that it was her.

“Hello, Riku.”

She still wasn't calling me Grim. It was a silly thing to miss, I supposed, but I had eventually realized that for Meli, it was more than just a stupid nickname. It was a term of affection, and as long as she refused to use it I knew that our problems were still far from resolved.

Kairi's voice interrupted my thoughts. “Wait...you two know each other?”

“Naminé, get Kairi out of here,” Meli ordered without moving. “Go find Sora. He's here somewhere.”

“Okay. Let's go, Kairi.” Naminé grabbed her Somebody's hand, but Kairi shook her head adamantly.

“No, wait. I'm not leaving you guys.”

I still hadn't stopped looking at Meli. Something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. “We'll catch up. You need to get to Sora where you'll be safe.”

“Fine,” Kairi finally, reluctantly agreed. “But it better be quick.”

As the two girls disappeared down the ramp, I took a deep breath, wondering if this conversation was going to end as badly as the last two had. “Where have you been? When I found out you weren't with Sora anymore, I was worried sick.”

“Oh, because I'm not capable of taking care of myself?”

Okay, apparently the answer was yes, this conversation was going to go much like the others. I shook my head in frustration. “You know that's not what I meant. I was just worried maybe the Organization had gotten to you, or...” There was no reaction from her, though with her face heavily shadowed by her hood it was hard to tell anything for sure. “Where have you been?”

“I've been here. I've joined them. Organization XIII. I'm one of them now.”

“What?” That was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. “What are you talking about?”

“You were right, my darkness has been growing. I'm done with heroes of light like Sora and his friends.” The venom in her voice said she was telling the truth, but her body was telling a different story. She looked...tired. Her posture had a slight slump to it that I wasn't used to seeing, and she also seemed unnaturally thin. Even from this distance, I could see that her clothes were hanging more loosely around her frame, and that the muscle definition she had gained in her arms was now missing.

“If that's true...if you're here of your own free will...then why does it look like you've lost weight?” I didn't even know for sure what I was implying. Was she a prisoner, like Kairi? But why would she be trying to sell me this ridiculous story?

“Been on a diet,” she replied shortly. Suddenly she jerked, though the movement was subtle enough that I would have missed it if I hadn't been studying her so closely. Then, in a puff of smoke, Sorrow's Promise was in her hand. She let out a sigh before speaking again. “The important thing is, I have orders to get rid of all intruders.”

I crossed my arms, still trying to wrap my brain around what was happening. “I don't want to fight you, Meli.” If only I could look into her eyes and read the truth there. “Why don't you take off that hood and let me see your face so we can talk?”

“I'm done with talking.” Raising her Keyblade, she ran at me, but I simply stepped to the side and backed away.

“You don't really want to do this, do you?” It wasn't like we hadn't fought plenty of times before in training, but it was the last thing I wanted to be doing right now. All I wanted was to be able to have a decent, straightforward conversation for the first time in months, without all of these games and lies and defensiveness. My life without her in it was dull and lonely, and I just wanted to go back to the way we had been before, if that was at all possible after what I had done to her.

She didn't answer my question, but I thought I saw a smirk cross her lips right before she disappeared into a dark corridor. I had barely even blinked when she reappeared again, this time right in front of me and swinging. My own Keyblade was in my hand in an instant, blocking hers before it crashed into my chest. When had she learned that trick? Her swings came one after another now, not as hard as I knew she could hit, but forceful enough that they could have done some damage if they had landed. Maybe she really did want to fight me after all. Or maybe she was just counting on me to be able to parry her, like I almost always had during training.

I blocked left, right, then left again, not bothering to try to get in any of my own hits. When our weapons clashed once more up high, Meli frowned from beneath her hood. “Is that a...Keyblade?” She pushed away a few steps, chest heaving for air. “How did that happen?”

“I don't really know. It just sort of showed up one day not long ago.” I glanced down at the red blade with a small sigh. “I'm still not really sure that I'm worthy of using it.”

“Well, congratulations,” she commented dryly.

“Meli...can we stop this madness now?” Surely she wasn't going to keep forcing this fight.

Her answer was to shoot Blizzaga at me. “I told you, the Organization wants you gone. So unless you just want to leave...”

“Can't do that. Not while all of my friends are here...including you.” Especially her.

“Well, I'm not going to be leaving here anytime soon.” There was something in her voice as she said it...dread? Resignation? “And as for your friends, they're next to go after you.” I couldn't tell if that was a threat or a warning.

Dark Firaga came flying at my face, and I deflected it off of my Keyblade. Then Meli was there again, swinging her weapon, but the strength of her blows seemed to be decreasing rapidly.

“You keep trying to convince me...” I blocked a swing towards my left arm. “...that you're on...” Jumped over a low swing. “...their side...” Blocked a hit coming straight at my head. “...but you forget how well...” Stopped a swing coming at my right hip. “...I know you. I've fought you...” Ducked out of the way of a spell. “...a hundred times...” Spun around to find her after she teleported behind me. “...before, and I can tell...” Blocked another head-on swing. “...that you're only half-trying...” Stepped back to avoid a too-short swing at my stomach. “...right now.”

This seemed to agitate her, and as if to prove herself, she geared up for one big, sloppy swing. Her Keyblade clanked loudly against mine, then she was stumbling to the side, dropping her weapon and falling on her knees on the white marble floor. Her hood covered her ducked face completely, but her body language spelled defeat. Something was definitely wrong. If that hadn't been obvious before, it was now. She should not be this utterly exhausted and out of breath after that little spat.

“I can't. I can't do it.”

I could barely hear the whispered words. Dismissing my Keyblade, I took a few tentative steps towards her, hoping that she'd finally let me in and tell me what was going on. Instead, she jerked again, harder this time, and groaned through her teeth. Doubling over with her arms across her stomach, she let out a raw scream. “What do you want from me?”

I halted in my tracks, taken aback. What did I want from her? Was this about me saying that she was only half-trying? I wouldn't have said it if I had realized how tired she really was, though I was glad that it had brought an end to the fight. “Meli...”

Her head came up, and some semblance of a smile crossed her lips. “I forgive you.”

That almost surprised me more than the scream had. “What?”

“I need you to know that.” She placed her hands on the floor and pushed herself up slowly, almost falling back over once or twice before she made it to her feet. “I forgive you, for everything...Grim.”

My eyebrows shot up. Warmth flooded through me, beginning in my chest and flowing out into my limbs until I felt like I might float away. I really didn't even know which meant more to me, the forgiveness, or the fact that she had called me Grim. If it wasn't for my growing concern about her condition, a grin would have broken out on my face right then and there.

But Meli was backing away, hugging herself, and throwing out her hand to open a dark corridor behind her.

“No, Meli, wait! Please!” I lunged forward, desperate to stop her, but she was already running through. The corridor snapped shut in my face, leaving me staring at the empty white walls of the fortress. “Meli...why?”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This oneshot was technically requested by Enamis09 as well, but I had already written it when she requested it. In other words, I wrote this one first, before the last one! It runs pretty long, too, but it's another one of my favorites.
> 
> I was inspired to write it mainly because of several comments I received on Sorrow's Promise, imagining what Riku's response to Meli's condition would be. I tried to incorporate as much of his feelings on the matter as possible into the main story, but with it being from Meli's perspective there was only so much I could do, of course. So...yay for oneshots!
> 
> From the last oneshot, we skipped over Meli and Riku's second meeting at the castle, where he knocks her hood off and he and Sora refuse to fight her. This one starts off not long after that, during Sora's fight with Luxord.

**Chapter 46/47 Remix**

(Runs parallel to chapters 46 and 47)

_Riku's Perspective_

She was gone. She had disappeared again. Not only that, but this time it was definitely not of her own free will, and the look of complete terror on her face just before the corridor took her...it was haunting my thoughts still.

If only we could find where in this blasted castle they were hiding her! But instead, we were stuck dealing with yet another member of Organization XIII. Even worse, the guy had thrown around some giant playing cards and made himself and Sora disappear, leaving me here to berate myself for letting her slip away.

As soon as I saw her, my gut had told me something was off. She had always been thin, but it had no longer seemed natural. Then of course when she had started spouting off about working with the Organization, I automatically knew that she was lying. She had been struggling lately, sure, mostly thanks to me. But my Meli would never have fallen that far, to willingly join the bad guys. So why hadn't I figured it out? Why had I not been able to put two and two together, and realize that she was being somehow forced into these attempts at battle?

I kicked the balcony railing, thinking back on the moment when the truth had finally slapped me in the face. I would never forget seeing her eyes for the first time this day, seeing the evidence of whatever atrocities they had been inflicting on her. Grinding my teeth together, I leaned over and clutched the banister, digging my fingertips into the stone.

Where are you, Meli? What are they doing to you now?

At that moment, the giant playing cards flew by again, and Sora reappeared from behind them, without the Organization member.

“You okay?” Kairi asked.

“Yeah, no worries!” Sora grinned. “Let's keep moving.”

We made our way back inside, down a long, curved hallway. Ahead, I could see Kingdom Hearts shining through floor-length windows. My attention was quickly diverted, however, when we walked out into the large, open room and found both Meli and the blue-haired man she had first appeared with standing in front of the windows.

I barely even heard the short exchange between the Organization member and Sora through the blood roaring in my ears. Taking a step forward, I stared the man down. “You need to let Meli go.”

“Yeah, or you're gonna regret it!” Sora piped in.

“Let her go?” The man gave an evil laugh. “Why, she's welcome to run into your arms whenever she pleases. Go on, Meli, why don't you run and see your friends?”

She stood her ground, though I had no doubt by now she had been threatened in some way to do so. “I know you've done something to her. Don't try to keep pretending that she wants to be here.”

“Oh, don't worry, I won't.” A blue and gold claymore flashed into his hands. “She's only here now so that she can watch all of you die.”

Sora already had his Keyblade at the ready, but before I could summon mine, a blast of wind nearly knocked all of us over. I saw debris flying towards us, and managed to tear my mind away from Meli long enough to turn and block Kairi from being hit. I couldn't hold my ground. I tried to dig my heels into the floor, but the windstorm blew both Kairi and me back out into the hallway.

As soon as I felt a break in the wind, I spun around to try to re-enter the room, but could immediately see that he had put up a barrier wall to prevent just that. “No!” I growled, slamming my fist into the nearly-invisible surface and sending a wave of blue light across it. “Meli!”

“It's gonna be okay.” I looked back over my shoulder at Kairi, and she gave me a faint, brave smile. “Sora and the others are in there with her. They'll take care of that guy.”

I turned back and rested my forehead against the barrier, exhaling sharply. I knew they would. I trusted them. But I wanted to take care of him myself. If this was the guy who had been hurting Meli, then I wanted to get my hands on him and make him suffer.

I didn't want Meli to be alone, either. Even if I couldn't be fighting her captor, I could have been at her side, helping her, assuring her that everything was going to be okay now. Looking past the epic battle happening in the middle of the room, I watched her, searching for any signs that she was in pain. Unfortunately, I could see them despite the distance. She was tense, afraid to move, her expression clearly distressed.

Hang on, Meli. Just hang on another minute.

Cutting my eyes back over to Sora, I watched anxiously as he and the others dealt their final blows to the blue-haired Organization member. There, he was done for. My satisfaction at knowing that he had met his just end was quickly replaced by impatience when he didn't just vanish right away.

“Why...Kingdom Hearts...where is my heart?” He stretched his hand out towards the glowing heart, then finally began to dissipate.

The barrier wall came down, and I was at a full-out run immediately. The cry that came out of Meli hardly even sounded like her, and made my heart leap into my throat. When I reached her at last, she was convulsing, gasping for air.

“Meli! It's okay. He's gone. You're safe now.” I wanted to grab her up and hold onto her so badly.

“No! I'm not...I can't...” She still hadn't moved an inch, her body trembling all over. “It hurts!”

Despite already knowing this, her admission of it tore at my heart. “What hurts?” I would have done anything to make it better, to make all of the hurt go away. Stepping forward, I reached out to gently touch her shoulders.

“No, don't touch me!” Her shriek sent me backwards, but the acute pain that tightened her expression and the whimper that followed nearly broke me. I waited with my jaw clenched tight while she took deep, ragged breaths, collecting herself. “Please, don't touch me,” she finally whispered. “You'll only make it worse.”

My throat was too tight for me to even force myself to speak for a few seconds. “Meli, please. You've got to tell me what's going on, or I can't help you.”

“You can't help me anyway.” She closed her eyes, jaw twitching. After a moment, she spoke again, so softly that I could barely hear. “Under my shirt. It's under my shirt.”

I stared blankly for a moment, then turned to look at Sora and Kairi for the first time. Sora was just staring back at me with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. Kairi, however, read my unspoken question and took a step towards Meli.

“I'm going to lift your shirt now, okay?” Gently grasping the hem, Kairi pulled it up slowly.

I didn't know really what to expect – perhaps a gaping wound, though there was no sign of blood. What I certainly didn't expect was the black that I saw. Just black, from the band of her skirt up over her ribs, wrapped all the way around her.

“What is that?” Sora asked, voicing all of our thoughts.

Meli still had her eyes closed, a few tears sliding down her cheeks. “I don't know...but it hurts. I can't...every time I move, it gets stronger. Saix had the controller in his pocket. That was the only way to turn it off or remove it, and it's gone.”

No wonder she didn't want me touching her. With a pit in my stomach, I glanced over to where the Organization member – Saix, apparently – had disappeared, feeling renewed hatred for him.

“You're gonna have to just kill me.”

The words caught me completely off guard. I turned back to meet her gaze, mouth open to respond though I didn't quite know what to even say.

“Please, Grim.” The haunted look in her blue eyes pierced into me. “I don't wanna die, but...I can't keep going much longer. I would much rather it be you than this thing.”

I swallowed hard. “I'm not going to kill you, Meli. There's got to be another way.”

“What are you going to do, march up to Xemnas and ask if he has a spare remote?”

I didn't take the time to reflect on how she was being her usual stubborn, sarcastic self even now. While she was speaking, an idea had occurred to me. “If that's what it takes, then yeah. But first, let's try this.” Flicking my wrist, I summoned Way to the Dawn, and the others around me stepped back. I held the Keyblade straight out in front of me, and just as I had hoped, a beam of light shot out from the tip and enveloped the device on her waist. It only took a few seconds for the hateful thing to click and drop to the floor.

Meli was falling. That was the next thing that my brain registered, and I released my Keyblade just in time to leap forward and catch her in my arms. As I knelt down on the floor with her resting on my lap, my brain flashed back to the mansion hallway so long ago. I had never wanted to see her in that much pain again, yet here we were.

“He said you couldn't save me. He said there was no other way.” She was crying into my shoulder, soaking the black fabric of my coat.

I brushed a strand of her purple hair, looking much duller than usual, away from her face. “He lied. But it's okay. You're safe.”

Oh, my sweet Meli. Whether you ever find it in your heart to love me or not, I will never let anyone hurt you like that ever again. I rocked her gently, rubbing her thin little arm as she continued to take shuddering breaths against me. If only I had gotten to her quicker, before any of this last pain had occurred.

“I should have seen it.” I shook my head, furious with myself. “I should have seen that she was hurting, and pulled her out sooner.”

Kairi dropped down to one knee next to us. “I knew they were doing something to her, every time they would take her out of the cell and she would come back hardly able to eat anything. I had no idea how bad it was, though.”

“What is this thing, anyway?” Sora bent down and picked up the black band off of the floor, wrinkling his nose at it. “Do you think it was using some kind of electricity?”

I looked down, noticing for the first time the black lightning-shaped marks that were covering her skin where the band had been. Lifting the shirt slightly higher to see better, I felt anger rising up my throat again. “Looks like it could have been. There's something else, too, though. I smell darkness on that band, like there was some kind of dark energy involved.”

Meli suddenly jolted, fighting to sit up, clawing at her shirt. I grabbed her wrists, tucking them between us as I pulled her back into myself. “Hey, hey, it's okay!” She grunted at me and remained tense, but didn't struggle anymore. Looking up at Sora, I indicated Meli with my head. “Sora, would you...?”

“Oh yeah, sure!” Summoning his Keyblade, he hoisted it into the air and called out, “Meli!” Green light fell down around us, settling over Meli's body before vanishing. Immediately I felt her relax, and her breathing slowed to a steadier rhythm.

It didn't take but a second for her to start trying to sit up again, but I still had my arms wrapped tightly around her. Glancing down at her stomach, I could see that the marks had faded, but they were still definitely visible. “Let's do one more...just in case. There's no telling what that did to the inside of her body.”

This time it was Donald who cast Curaga, and this time I let Meli up, though reluctantly. Automatically I missed the warmth of her body against mine. After yanking her shirt back down, she dropped her gaze to her lap. “Thank you, everyone. I owe you guys big time.”

“Nah, don't worry about it,” Sora assured her.

Goofy stepped forward. “We're just glad we could help.”

“I'm pretty sure it's me that owes you,” Kairi added, smiling softly. “You've been giving me most of your food for weeks, remember?”

I felt a pang in my chest as I realized then why she looked so thin and sickly – though the pain she had obviously been going through probably contributed, as well. As I started thinking about it again, I tensed in renewed anger, my hands curling up into tight fists.

“That was...don't worry about that,” Meli was replying. “I'm just glad you're okay.”

“And we're just glad that you're okay.” She looked up at me when I spoke, but couldn't seem to hold eye contact for long. “I wish I had been the one to give that...” I cut myself off before saying something I shouldn't, clearing my throat, then continued. “That psychopath the justice he deserved, but...the important thing is that he's gone now.” And that she was safe. I had to keep reminding myself of that, that she was safe now. Though, sitting here looking at her, it was clear that it would be some time before she was actually okay again, and I wasn't sure if I'd ever forgive myself for that.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This oneshot is actually part one of two...the second part is from a different character's perspective, and will be posted next week. It was one of those scenes that I was lying in bed imagining how it would go, but couldn't include because Meli was absent or unconscious for most of it.
> 
> This takes place right after everyone arrived back at Destiny Islands and the boys disappeared into the Realm of Darkness, when Meli and friends are making their way to Kairi's house.

**Chapter 51.5**

(Falls in the middle of chapter 51)

_Kairi's Perspective_

Kairi was trying her best not to look as anxious as she felt, but it was only partially working. Bouncing up onto her toes slightly as she walked, she peered ahead down the road, even though she knew that her house was still way too far away to see. Then she glanced back at her friends, and immediately felt guilty for being so preoccupied with thoughts of her parents. Poor Meli's face was as white as a sheet and beaded with sweat as she shuffled slowly up the sandy path, leaning heavily on Goofy's arm. If only she wasn't so stubborn, Kairi sighed to herself, but shook the thought away. If it had been her in that position, she might have been too embarrassed to accept the help, too.

Of course Donald wasn't going to be quite as understanding. “Are you sure you don't want him to just carry you?” he asked impatiently.

Meli shook her head, but kept her lips pressed together and didn't say anything. It looked like it was taking all of her focus and energy just to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

King Mickey looked up at Kairi sympathetically. “Kairi, why don't ya go on ahead of us? You can let your parents know that we're comin', and we'll meet ya there.”

Clasping her hands behind her back, Kairi cleared her throat, wondering if she had really been that obvious. “Oh, no, I'm fine. I want to stay with you guys.”

Halting in her tracks, Meli made eye contact with Kairi for the first time since they had arrived on the beach. “You should go,” she said hoarsely. “Go see your parents.”

Kairi drew in a breath and held it, looking each friend in the face for assurance that it was really alright. “Okay,” she finally responded, blowing the air out. “Just...to tell them you're coming. Maybe they can get some food started for us.”

Full of nervous energy, Kairi turned and began to jog up the path, momentarily pushing her worry over Meli, Sora, and Riku to the back of her mind and letting her excitement and relief at being back home take the forefront. Before long, the familiar brick facade and white columns came into view, and she quickened her pace, a smile spreading across her face. Home. There had been times over the past weeks that it had been hard to believe she would make it back here. She couldn't imagine what her parents had been through, wondering where she had disappeared to. They were going to be completely ecstatic to see her.

The front door was unlocked, as always. Pushing it open, Kairi breathed in the scent of the potpourri that her mom always kept on a side table in the foyer. “Mom? Dad? I'm home!”

There was a thump from upstairs, like something had been dropped, followed by the sound of footsteps running down the hall. Her mother appeared at the top of the stairs, and Kairi grinned. “Mom!”

“Kairi!” Mrs. Yoshida cried. She flew down the steps and into her daughter's arms. “Kairi, oh my baby, you're home!” In a moment, Mr. Yoshida had joined them, too, wrapping his arms around both his wife and daughter. The trio stayed like that for a long time, alternating between laughing and crying, no one really wanting to let go. Finally Kairi stepped back, wiping her face with the heel of her hand, and looked into the faces of her parents. Besides just the tears still streaking her mother's cheeks, she could tell that the last several weeks had been hard on them both. Their faces looked weary from worry and probably lack of sleep.

“When I heard your voice down here, I thought I was imagining things again,” Mrs. Yoshida murmured. “Oh, Kairi sweetie, where have you been?”

Kairi took a deep breath. “I was...kidnapped.” She saw her mom's face pale, and hurried to continue. “But I'm okay. They didn't hurt me, and...they're gone now. Sora and Riku took care of them, so we don't have to worry about them anymore.”

Mrs. Yoshida embraced her daughter again. “We were so worried about you. I'm so glad you're okay.”

“You said you saw Sora and Riku?” Mr. Yoshida asked.

Kairi nodded. “Yeah. They helped me escape, along with some other friends. But they...” Tears filled her eyes again. “They got left behind. There was one of the bad guys left, the leader. We thought he was gone, but...when we were trying to leave, the exit got cut off before they could make it through. We think they must be still fighting him now.”

“I'm sorry, sugar,” her dad responded, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “I know how much you miss them, and must be worried about them. But I know those boys, and they'll make it through somehow.”

“Yeah, I know.” Kairi gave him a wobbly smile. “That's what I kept telling Meli...oh! Meli!” Kairi looked over her shoulder at the front door suddenly, having momentarily forgotten about her mission.

“Who's Meli, sweetie?”

“She's a friend. She's on her way here now, with Donald and Goofy and the King,” Kairi hurried to explain.

“The King?” Mr. Yoshida echoed, surprise evident in his voice.

“King Mickey. They're all friends of Sora and Riku, and helped with the fight. I'm sorry, normally you know I would have asked before inviting people over, but everyone's exhausted and hungry and needed somewhere to go...”

“Say no more,” Kairi's dad replied with a smile. “We haven't had breakfast this morning, either. How do pancakes and eggs and bacon sound?” He was already turning to head into the kitchen.

“Heavenly,” Kairi sighed. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Don't you worry about inviting them over without asking,” Mrs. Yoshida assured her. “It sounds like we owe them a debt of gratitude, anyway.”

Kairi nodded in agreement. “They were all important to us getting out of there. But Meli has been taking care of me ever since she got there. She was a prisoner, too, and I would've been a lot worse off if it hadn't been for her.” Another tear unexpectedly rolled down her cheek. “She's in bad shape, Mom. I'm really worried about her.”

At that moment, the doorbell rang out through the foyer. “There they are now!” Kairi exclaimed, rushing over to the door. She swung it open eagerly, only to see Meli's limp body draped across Goofy's arms. Kairi gasped. “What happened?”

“She fainted right after you left,” King Mickey explained. “I knew she was pushin' herself too hard.”

Mrs. Yoshida walked up behind her daughter, placing one hand on her shoulder and gesturing inside with the other. “Come in, come in. Bring her in here and put her on the sofa.” Kairi glanced up at her, admiring the woman for her ability to take any situation in stride. She gave no indication whatsoever that she had noticed the strange appearances of the visitors, just jumped in and began playing hostess and nurse without a second thought.

Kairi trailed after her friends into the room that her mom had indicated, the seldom-used living room. Goofy placed Meli gently on the couch, and the King fluffed a throw pillow underneath her head. A moment later, Mrs. Yoshida reappeared with a bottle in her hand, one that Kairi recognized as the electrolyte-filled drink that they kept on hand in case anyone got sick.

“My mom's a nurse,” Kairi announced to the room. “You can help her, right Mom?”

King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy scattered to the side to let Mrs. Yoshida come in closer to the couch. Kneeling down on the rug, she reached out her free hand to place on Meli's sweaty forehead. “Do we know exactly what's wrong with her?”

The four friends shared a look. “Well, she had some pretty bad injuries...” Goofy began.

“Yeah, but Sora and I healed her,” Donald interjected. “So those should be fine now.”

“It's food,” Kairi spoke up. “That's what she needs. Like I said, we've been together for several weeks now, and she's hardly eaten anything in that whole time. She gave most of her food to me. First, just because she knew I was having to share mine with Pluto. Then it was because she was too sick from...her injuries...to eat. She kept a little for herself, but it was mostly just small pieces of bread, and those would last her two or three days.”

Mrs. Yoshida nodded, still focused on Meli, and began opening the drink bottle. “I'll try to get her to take some of this. If we can get enough sugar and calories in her from this, then maybe she'll feel up to eating some breakfast later.”

“Speaking of which, breakfast is ready!” Mr. Yoshida announced, stepping into the room. He faltered momentarily when the duck, dog, and mouse turned their heads to look at him, but then smiled cheerily. “Anyone hungry?”

“Yes, sir!” Donald agreed heartily.

“I hate to leave Meli, though...” King Mickey hummed.

“You all are good friends, but you should just leave her to me,” Mrs. Yoshida countered. “Go on and eat while it's hot.”

“That goes for you, too, Kairi!” the King called back to her when he noticed that she had lingered in the room.

Kairi sighed, giving one last glance back at Meli's unconscious form. “Yes, Your Majesty.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part 2 of the return home, starting immediately after the last one ended. This one mostly covers things that were included in the original story, but adds in a few more details. Originally, it actually had even more extra details in it, but some of them I liked so much that I went back and added them into the story (the part about her getting scared of Kairi's dad, for instance).
> 
> On that note, I would definitely recommend this method for those of you who are writers! If you get stuck on your story, or just want a fresh outlook on it while editing, try writing things from another character's perspective and see what happens!

**Chapter 52 Remix**

(Runs parallel to chapter 52)

_Mrs. Yoshida's Perspective_

Mrs. Yoshida studied the girl on her sofa with pity. She was young, probably not any older than Kairi, but there was something about her that gave the impression she had seen more than her fair share of sorrow. Perhaps it was the pained expression that was etched onto her face, even while unconscious. The state she was currently in certainly didn't help. Of course Mrs. Yoshida didn't know what she normally looked like while healthy, but even so she could tell that her cheekbones and collarbone were protruding just a bit too much. Kairi and her friends had been cryptic when mentioning the girl's injuries, so Mrs. Yoshida didn't want to press. She had to wonder, though, what she might have been through. Without knowing a thing about this girl, her heart ached for her.

Using her finger to trap some of the drink in the straw, Mrs. Yoshida inserted the other end of the straw in between Meli's lips and released the liquid into her mouth. After a few minutes of waiting and repeating this process, a bit of color started returning to her lips, and her eyelids began to flutter. Then they slowly opened wide, revealing sapphire blue irises just like Kairi's. She sucked in an audible breath as her eyes darted around the room, trying to place her surroundings.

“It's alright, sweetie,” Mrs. Yoshida soothed. “I'm Kairi's mom. You're at my house.”

Meli swallowed. “What...happened?” she whispered hoarsely.

“You fainted, and your friends brought you here.” Mrs. Yoshida held the straw out towards Meli's lips again. “Here, take a drink. This should help perk you up a little. Then we'll get you to the table and get you some real food.”

Obligingly taking a sip, Meli glanced around the room again. “Where's Kairi?”

“Just in the next room, along with your other friends. They're eating some breakfast. Drink some more.” The next several minutes were spent mostly in silence, as Meli sipped on the drink and gathered some strength.

“Do you think you could sit up now?” Mrs. Yoshida asked eventually. Meli nodded, and Mrs. Yoshida set the bottle down and stood so that she could help pull her up. “Take it slowly, sweetie. Don't push yourself.”

Mr. Yoshida's voice came from the doorway. “Do you need anything, hon? Oh, she's up! Good.”

Turning to face her husband, Mrs. Yoshida smiled softly. “I think we're about ready to move into the dining room. She's going to need some help, though.”

“Well, I could carry her in there...” Mr. Yoshida began, walking further into the room, but he stopped short and nodded towards Meli with a look of concern on his face.

Mrs. Yoshida spun back around to find that the girl had curled herself into a ball as far back into the couch cushions as she could get, wild-eyed and trembling. Glancing back and forth between her husband and Meli, Mrs. Yoshida dropped quickly back down to her knees and placed a gentle hand on Meli's arm. The girl jolted at the touch.

“It's okay, sweetie. This is Kairi's dad. He's not going to hurt you.”

“I'll go get Goofy,” Mr. Yoshida offered. “She'll feel more comfortable with someone she knows.”

Meli stopped shaking as soon as he had left the room, and when the tall, lanky, dog-like creature walked in a moment later, she relaxed even more. “Hiya, Mel,” Goofy greeted her. “Glad to see you're awake. We've been eatin' breakfast, and it was real good, a-hyuck.”

“No, no...you don't need to carry me,” Meli mumbled as Goofy came closer. “I don't want you to...”

Her friend completely ignored her protests, scooping her up in his arms like it was nothing while continuing his chatter. “Mr. Yoshida's makin' a plate for ya. Come on, let's go see everybody.”

Everyone had nearly finished their meal already when they entered the dining room. “Meli!” Kairi exclaimed brightly, obviously feeling more chipper after having some food. “Here, I saved you a seat next to me.” She patted on the chair, and Goofy set Meli gently down onto it. Meli managed a small smile in Kairi's direction, then cut her eyes warily over to Mr. Yoshida as he walked in from the kitchen with two more plates of food.

Seeing this, Mrs. Yoshida took one of the plates from his hand, and crossed to set it in front of Meli. At the sight of the bacon, eggs, and pancakes, tears began to roll down her cheeks. “What is it, sweetie? What's the matter?” Mrs. Yoshida asked, bending down to look her in the face.

“Nothing.” Meli shook her head, lifting a hand to wipe away the tears. “I'm sorry. Thank you.”

Sighing with worry, Mrs. Yoshida took her own seat and smiled a thank you at her husband for the food he had set there. The four friends resumed their conversation about the Islands, but she kept her focus on the girl across the table from her. Meli's hands were shaking slightly, but she managed to stab and eat a bite of egg, chewing slowly and pausing to let it settle before going for the next bite. She only managed to repeat the process a few times, however, before she began crying again.

“Are you okay?” Mrs. Yoshida asked her.

Meli dropped the fork down onto the plate and pulled her hand back into her lap. “I'm sorry. I...don't think I can eat anymore.”

“That's okay,” Kairi assured her. “I couldn't eat all of mine, either.” Mrs. Yoshida glanced over at her daughter's plate and smiled slightly when she saw that she had eaten all but one pancake.

“I'd say it's perfectly normal for you to not feel like eatin' much to start with,” remarked the mouse from the end of the table.

Mrs. Yoshida nodded. “And don't worry, you're not hurting our feelings a bit. There will be plenty of time for you to eat more later. Right now, I think you just need some rest.” She pushed her chair back from the table and looked to Goofy. “It's...Goofy, right? Would you mind bringing her upstairs?”

Meli began to protest again, but no one was listening to her. Goofy happily followed orders, carrying her up the staircase behind Mrs. Yoshida and setting her on the edge of the bed in the guest room that was indicated. Mrs. Yoshida went into Kairi's bedroom next door, digging a pair of pajamas out of the top drawer of her dresser. She knew her daughter wouldn't mind sharing, and the two girls were practically the same size. When she came back to the guest room, Goofy gave Meli an affectionate pat on the head, then took his leave.

“Here, you can put these on if you'd like. They'll be much more comfortable to rest in.” Mrs. Yoshida placed the folded pajamas on the bed next to Meli. The girl nodded wearily, but made no move to begin undressing. “Would you...like some help taking off your shoes?”

Meli hesitated, staring down at the dusty black boots. “Yes, please,” she whispered finally.

Smiling, Mrs. Yoshida stooped down and began untying the laces. “I bet it will feel good to have these off,” she commented, trying to set Meli at ease. When she had removed the boots and set them to the side, she stood again. “Now, would you like me to give you some privacy, or do you need some help with the rest of it?” She didn't want to overstep her boundaries, but at this point it looked like Meli was barely capable of remaining upright, much less dressing herself.

“I don't...know if I...can.” Meli sounded like she was on the verge of tears again.

“Well, then, I'm happy to help.” Mrs. Yoshida began with the choker, unclasping it and setting it on the nightstand, then slid the vest off of Meli's limp arms. Tears were indeed sliding down her cheeks now, though whether from embarrassment or exhaustion it was impossible to tell.

Grasping the hem of Meli's shirt, Mrs. Yoshida pulled it carefully up over her head, then took a sudden step back and had to swallow a gasp. Strange, purplish-brown marks were covering Meli's body, clustered like a spiderweb all over her stomach, in particular, but also crawling up her rib cage on every side, and all the way up to her neck and shoulders in the back. Meli seemed to be too out of it to have noticed Mrs. Yoshida's reaction, so she swallowed hard and tried to regain her composure.

“Are you cold, sweetie?” she asked, noticing Meli shivering, glad that she had grabbed a long sleeve shirt.

“I'm...always cold...lately,” Meli replied.

Mrs. Yoshida smiled sympathetically as she slipped the pajama shirt over Meli's head. “That's probably because you don't have any fat left on your body to keep you warm.”

She finished changing her clothes as quickly as possible, not able to help but notice that the marks spread down to her thighs, too. What had this poor girl been through? As she carefully laid her back onto the pillow and pulled the covers up over her, she felt of her forehead one more time. It was a bit warmer than before, and Mrs. Yoshida wondered if these shivers could be partially from a fever developing. With the lack of nutrition, it was almost surprising that her immune system hadn't failed her before now.

“It's gonna be alright, sweetie. You can stay here as long as you need to, and we'll get you feeling all better.”

Exiting the room quietly, Mrs. Yoshida met Kairi out in the hallway and held up her finger to her lips, gesturing towards Kairi's bedroom. Once inside, she embraced her daughter, relishing having her in her arms again.

“How is she?” Kairi asked, looking up into her mom's face.

“It's hard to say for sure,” Mrs. Yoshida sighed. “It will probably be touch and go for a few days. I think she may be getting a fever, and will probably just want to sleep, but we're going to have to wake her up often to make sure she keeps drinking and eating, even if it's only a few bites at a time.”

“I'll help with anything I can. I really appreciate you taking her in like this.”

“Of course. You know we wouldn't ever turn away someone in need, especially a friend of yours who has done so much for you.” Mrs. Yoshida stepped over to sit on the bed, pulling Kairi by the hand to sit with her. “Have you seen...the marks on her torso? Do you know what they're from?”

Kairi dropped her gaze to her lap and nodded. “Yeah. Those are...from the injuries that we mentioned.”

Mrs. Yoshida pressed her lips together, not wanting to pry, but feeling like she needed to know in order to fully take care of Meli. “Can you tell me what happened? What...they did to her?”

“I really...don't know very much, actually,” Kairi began, tears welling up in her eyes. “She would never tell me. They would just...take her out of her cell, for a few hours at a time, and every time she came back she'd look worse. Just...worn out, sick. I didn't know they were hurting her, though. I knew she had a Keyblade, so I just figured they were making her fight for them or something. I guess I should have known that they'd have to hurt her to make her do anything for them, though.”

She took a shuddering breath. “Anyway, I still don't know what was going on then, for sure. All I know is, in the end, Saix – that's one of the guys that kidnapped us both – made her watch while he fought Sora, Donald, and Goofy. After they won, and he was gone...that's when we finally found out about the band. It was this...thing, around her waist.” Kairi waved her hands around her own body. “And it was...Riku said he thought it was using both electricity and some kind of dark magic. I guess Saix must have been able to turn it on and off whenever he wanted. But at that point, he had left it on so that it would shock her every time she moved.” Tears spilled over anew, and she buried her face in her hands. “Oh, Mom, it was awful. I'll never forget that look on her face. She was so scared, and in so much pain.” Kairi wiped her face off. “But thankfully, Riku was able to use his Keyblade to get that thing off of her, and Sora and Donald used magic to heal her. So...I don't think you really have to worry about those marks anymore. At least...not physically. They're just scars now.”

Mrs. Yoshida reached out for her daughter, pulling her in close again and kissing the top of her head. A pit had been growing in her stomach throughout Kairi's story. As much as she ached for the stranger lying in the next room, she also couldn't help but be grateful that her own child had been spared.

“She doesn't even have a family,” Kairi murmured. “She's got no one, just like me when I first got here.”

“That's not true.” Mrs. Yoshida pulled away and looked Kairi in the face, her hands grasping her arms. “She has you, and the others downstairs. And she'll have Sora and Riku, when they get back. I'm assuming they're friends with her, too.”

A smile played on the corners of Kairi's mouth. “More than just friends, when it comes to Riku.”

Mrs. Yoshida's eyebrows went up, and she laughed a little. “Oh, really? Well then, there you go. She has all of you, and now she has Dad and me, too. Just like you did.”

Kairi smiled now for real. “Thanks, Mom. That means a lot to me, and I know it will to Meli, too.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's request is another from Enamis09! This time she asked for a conversation between Riku and Sora about Riku's relationship with Meli. I had actually already thought of doing something like this, but had forgotten about it, so I was glad for the reminder! I decided to place the conversation during the boys' time in the Realm of Darkness after fighting Xemnas. It kinda fills in the gap between Sora trying to figure the two of them out at the castle, and him calling Meli Riku's "girlfriend" when they got back home. Hope you all enjoy!

**Chapter 53.5**

(Falls in between/runs parallel to chapter 53 and 54)

_Sora's perspective_

Nothingness.

That's all that Sora had been able to see for what seemed like hours. Just empty space, not dark, but not light either, stretching on in front of him for eternity. There was nothing to see, nothing to focus on, nothing to keep his thoughts from wandering back time and again to the wounded friend who was leaning heavily on his shoulders.

He had never seen Riku like this, ever. Riku was always the strong one, the one who very rarely got hurt and could just shake it right off when he did. He never showed weakness if he could help it, even though as his best friend Sora could tell better than anyone else when he was actually hurting. And right now, despite his efforts to keep it all concealed, the slow, limping steps and the frequent little grunts that escaped him told Sora that he was hurting really badly.

Sora pressed his lips together and adjusted his grip on Riku's belt. He wanted to ask if he was okay, but he had already done that several times, and the answer was always the same and was always a lie. He knew better than to think that Riku was going to actually admit to the kind of pain he was in. Instead, his mind grasped for a subject to bring up. Something, anything, to fill the deafening silence and keep his mind occupied.

“So, uh...” Sora cleared his throat. “Since there's not much else to do right now except talk...I'm still waiting to hear about you and Meli.” He cringed a little, realizing belatedly that Riku might not feel up to talking. “I mean, if you feel like it, that is.”

Riku huffed a quiet laugh, and Sora's heart quickened. That was a good sign, right? If he was still able to laugh, then that meant he must be okay. Riku's laughs weren't often any louder than that, anyway.

“Gosh, I don't...really even know where to start.” The older boy's voice was a little strained, huskier than usual, but anything other than the short, one- or two-word answers Sora had been getting out of him so far was encouraging.

“Well, how about at the beginning?” Sora grinned.

That's what Riku did. He explained that Meli had stumbled upon the place where he and DiZ – who was apparently the same person as Ansem the Wise, though Sora was still a bit confused about all of that – had set up their base of operations for spying on the Organization, and how she had not long afterward discovered her ability to wield the Keyblade. He told stories about training her, and traveling to other worlds together, and even, though hesitantly, kissing her for the first time.

“Whoa!” Sora breathed. “So you two are like, together? But she was...you two were...I don't know. It was weird. You acted like you liked each other but maybe kinda didn't at the same time. So I'm confused.”

“Patience,” Riku replied. “I'll get there.”

So Sora listened patiently as Riku explained how she had just gotten out of a bad relationship and wasn't ready for another, but that they had remained good friends for a while after that. There was a lull in the conversation then, and Sora wanted to press for the rest of the story, but he bit his tongue and let Riku take his time.

“Then I went after Roxas,” he finally admitted. “I tried to leave her out of it, but she followed me. And when I gave into the darkness and changed into Ansem...he hurt her.” Sora felt Riku shake his head. “I hurt her. It may have been him using my body in that moment, but...to her, it was me. And I couldn't really blame her for that. I should never have let it happen.”

Riku fell silent again. The sound of their footsteps and Riku's heavy breathing once again filled the still air as Sora struggled to find something to say to that. “Well, it doesn't sound to me like it was your fault.” The reply felt lame, even to him. “Did you two talk about it? Make up?”

“She couldn't trust me anymore. She left, and I didn't see her again until you guys were in Port Royal. I had asked her to look out for you when you first woke up, make sure you got to where you needed to go alright, and she did that. I'm not sure how she got convinced to actually join you on your journey, but I was glad to find out that she had. I'm grateful to you for looking out for her.”

Sora ignored the last part, his mind having latched onto something at the very beginning. “Wait...you were in Port Royal?”

Riku grunted another laugh. “Briefly, yes. Meli and I talked...or more like, argued...one night on the ship. And then one other time, in Land of Dragons.”

“So that was you.” Sora stuck his lower lip out. “I was looking for you everywhere, but seems like you knew where I was the whole time.”

“I told you, I didn't want you to find me. I didn't want you to see me like that.”

“But you let Meli see you,” Sora whined.

“She was there when I changed, remember?” Riku sighed. “And I was trying to work things out with her, but she just couldn't forgive me. Not after what she had been through in the past.”

Sora wrinkled his nose in thought. “That must be why she stayed behind when we went to the city to warn Shang about the dragon. To talk to you. But then...”

“Then she got kidnapped.” Riku sighed again, heavier this time. “If I had just stayed a little longer, made sure she got there safely...”

“If the Organization really wanted her that badly, they would have just waited for the next opportunity. You couldn't have stopped them any more than I could have.”

Riku ignored that bit of encouragement. “To answer your earlier question, she eventually did forgive me. She told me that when I saw her in the Castle. But she also said that she still wasn't ready to go any farther than forgiveness. I felt like she was starting to soften towards the end, especially once I was back to looking like myself, and Ansem's appearance wasn't looming between us anymore, reminding her of what happened. I was beginning to think that maybe she really could trust me again, that maybe there was some hope for us.”

“So why do you sound so down about that? That's great!” Sora exclaimed. “When we get back home, you two can pick back up where you left off!”

“If we get back home,” Riku emphasized. “Look at us, Sora. We're in the middle of nowhere. If I even make it-”

“Don't say that!” Sora scolded, his heart dropping into his stomach.

“And if we can figure out how to get home,” Riku continued. “Even then, I don't know. Maybe I was imagining things. Maybe she'll never fully be able to trust me again.”

He came to a sudden halt, and Sora was forced to a stop beside him. Craning his neck, he looked with concern over at the face that was normally well above his, but was currently hanging down at his level. “Riku? You okay?”

“Yeah. Just need to rest a minute.”

His eyes drifted shut, and Sora watched as his chest rose and fell, each breath seeming to take more effort than it should. Sora closed his own eyes and tried once again to summon his magic, but the tingling response was weak, far too weak to be able to cast any kind of spell, much less the kind of healing spell that his friend would need.

“Even if she just wanted to go back to being my friend, that would be alright,” Riku spoke up again after a moment. His eyes opened, and he stared off into the nothingness. “I just can't stand the cold shoulder anymore. I could tolerate only being her friend, if that's all she wants.”

Sora looked over at him again, lips pursed in thought. “Could you? Really?”

Riku's mouth stretched thin into something between a smile and a grimace. “I...I love her, Sora. This isn't just some crush. I really love her.”

Nodding slowly, Sora followed his gaze out into the distance. “Yeah. I can tell.” It's why he had questioned whether or not he would really be content with a mere friendship. He never expected Riku to actually admit the depth of his feelings aloud. Sora was usually the only person who got the privilege of hearing those sorts of confessions from his friend, but the rarity of such a thing meant he was always surprised when it came. “I think...I think she loves you, too. Just...maybe she doesn't know it yet.”

Riku finally turned his head slightly to give Sora a doubtful look. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, you said you were in Port Royal, on the ship, right? One time she got up in the middle of the night and left the bunk room, and when she came back she had been crying. When I asked her about it, she said she really missed her friend. She had to have been talking about you, right?”

“Yeah. Her 'friend',” Riku echoed dismally.

Sora rolled his eyes. “Just because she used the word 'friend' doesn't mean it wasn't more than that. What did you want her to tell me, that she missed the guy she was totally in love with? And anyway, I don't think she would have been crying like that if you weren't really special to her.”

Riku didn't answer for a moment. Finally, he dropped his gaze to the ground. “Maybe. I guess...I guess I just have to keep hoping, huh? Hoping that...if we make it back, there will still be a chance for us, somewhere down the road.”

“Yeah!” Sora nodded enthusiastically, excited to hear at least a shred of optimism. “It might take some more time, but I'm sure you two will be happy in the end!”

One corner of Riku's mouth lifted in a semblance of a smile. “Well, I guess we'd better keep walking, then.”

Grinning, Sora pulled Riku's arm a little more snug across his shoulders, and they began their trek once more. Silence settled over them again, but this time Sora's mind was whirling with all the new information he had just heard. Riku and Meli. Together. Somehow, he could see it. She had always seemed to have up a wall when she was around him, so he couldn't say that he had gotten to know her well, but still, the bits that he had seen of her true character seemed to fit. The more he thought about it, the more the idea of his best friend finding love and happiness made his heart swell.

“Riku's got a girlfriend...” he sang quietly.

“Shut up.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week we have our first request from FFN user Nevquariel. She asked for the last chapter of Sorrow's Promise – the reunion – from Riku's perspective. I've always loved the end of KH2, and whump, so I couldn't help adding in some extra whump to this. A bit of angst, too, to start with, but the whole last part of it is fluff.

**Chapter 54 ReMix**

(Runs parallel to chapter 54)

_Riku's perspective_

Silence had fallen between Sora and me for a while. There was nothing more to say, really. After all, we had been wandering through the Realm of Darkness for what seemed like hours with nothing better to do than talk, and now we were, as far as I could tell, stuck. Stuck on a lonely, gloomy, darkness-infested beach, an immeasurable distance from the people we longed to be with.

Leaning onto my hands, I tipped my head back to gaze up at the black sky. There weren't even any stars to break up the void. It was much more pleasant if I closed my eyes. I could focus more then on the sound of the waves, and imagine that I was back on Destiny Islands for the first time in two years. The surf was frigid cold, washing all the way up nearly to my hips and completely soaking my shoes and the hems of my pants, but I didn't care. It took my mind off of the pain that throbbed in my shoulder, seared across my lower back, and periodically shot down into my left leg.

A new sensation jolted my brain out of thoughts of home and Meli. Sitting up straighter with a wince, I spotted a blue glass bottle afloat in the waves, bumping up against my foot. It looked like a piece of paper was inside. I never would have expected to find a message way out here in the middle of nowhere, but I wasn't about to pass up seeing what it was.

Sora remained oblivious, his own eyes closed, while I yanked out the cork and pried out the paper with stiff fingers. The handwriting immediately struck me as familiar, making my heart skip a beat with surprise, and a quick scan of the message showed what was likely a poem and an even more familiar signature. Tempted as I was to read the whole thing myself, I knew that it wasn't meant for my eyes.

“Sora?” He blinked open his eyes and turned them toward me, his eyebrows raising as he spotted the paper. “I think it's for you.”

Taking the message carefully in his fingers, he turned it over and studied it. “Thinking of you, wherever you are...” He trailed off then, reading the remainder silently.

Kairi. If anyone could somehow send a message in a bottle from the Realm of Light and have it chase after the boy I knew she secretly loved all the way to a beach in the Realm of Darkness, it was her. That girl had always had some kind of magic in her, way before we even knew magic was a real thing.

Meli had that same something special about her, which was no surprise considering their relation. It was difficult to put a finger on what it was, but there was just something about them that made me think they were destined for great things. In fact, if there were any two people that I could believe would actually be able to get us out of this mess and back home, it would be the two of them.

Or at least get Sora back home. I wasn't confident that I would make it long enough for that, not unless one of us came up with some healing magic really soon. The good news about a wound from Xemnas' blades was that it was mostly instantly cauterized. Despite that, I could still feel sluggish bleeding from my back, especially, every time I moved. And if we were attacked by Heartless here on their home turf, I could barely even stand on my own, much less fight. If only we hadn't both depleted our magic to the point of exhaustion.

My morose train of thought was interrupted by a sudden blinding light. It appeared as a thin streak above the water to begin with, but quickly grew in width, like a door opening.

“Light.” The sight was so foreign in this dark world that it was all I could think of to say.

“The door to light...” Sora was on his feet an instant later, still clutching the paper. Turning to me, he held out his free hand. “We'll go together.”

I looked up at his eager face, and for a moment I wondered if I should even bother. Could I even make it out there to the door? What if I slowed Sora down too much, and he missed his chance? Then I thought of this boy in front of me, of how he had never ever given up on me. I thought of our home and our friends that were waiting for us. I thought of Meli and the relationship that I still had a glimmer of hope could survive.

“Yeah.” The moment was over in the blink of an eye, and I clasped onto his outstretched hand and accepted the help up.

The light seemed to grow, spilling out of the door, over the water, and up onto the beach where we stood. With it came a revitalizing energy that I breathed in gratefully. My injuries were still very much present, but I felt like I could actually walk forward on my own. A few steps into the water, side by side with Sora, into the light...

And we were falling. The abrupt change in sensation stole my breath and made my stomach turn a somersault. When the white light cleared from my vision, I could see water straight below us, but this time it wasn't black and dreary. This was aqua blue water, tinged with orange from the setting sun. Before I had more of a chance to decide where we were, Sora and I both hit the water at top speed. The impact stung every exposed patch of skin on my body and left a momentary ache in my bones.

Breaking the surface with a gasp for air, I started treading water and attempted to shake my long, wet hair out of my face while looking around. We were...home. In the middle of the ocean, yes, but our ocean, right in front of our play island. The last time I had seen that little island, it had been breaking apart and being sucked into a dark vortex, but there it was, bright and welcoming. And best of all, Meli and Kairi were on the beach.

“Sora! Riku!” Kairi yelled, waving happily.

Sora laughed and turned to grin at me, and all I could do was make a little noise of disbelief. He took off swimming as fast as he could paddle. I followed with the steady stroke that had been ingrained into me since I could walk, ignoring the screaming of my shoulder. I could handle a little pain right now. Meli was just a few yards away.

By the time the water grew too shallow to swim and I forced myself to my feet, she was standing next to Kairi, looking just as dumbfounded as I felt. I wished I could run to her like Sora was running to Kairi right then, but the burst of energy was quickly wearing off and it was all I could do to trudge through the knee-deep water.

The next thing I knew, Sora was being tackled down into the shallows by a very enthusiastic Donald and Goofy, and Mickey was barreling toward me. I just barely caught him in mid-air, letting his momentum spin me around.

“Good to have ya back, pal!” he exclaimed.

I smiled and gave a nod. “Good to be back.”

My real focus was still on Meli, though, who was still standing back on the beach with one hand gripping the other arm. Setting Mickey down, I watched her carefully, wondering what she was thinking. She somehow already looked so much healthier than she had a few hours ago, I could tell that even from this distance. But as for where we stood, I had no idea. Things in the Castle had been so confusing, and even though she seemed to have been warming back up to me toward the end, I didn't want to get my hopes up too soon.

Finally she met my eyes for the first time, and something sparked. She broke into a run, pounding through the water, and before I could let myself believe that she was actually running to see me, she was jumping straight into my chest and clinging to me with her legs. I didn't even feel the pain when I hit the sand. All I felt was her warmth underneath my hands, her fingers clutching desperately to my vest, her body pressed as close to mine as it could possibly get, her lips slipping between mine over and over again. Forget our first kiss. This was the moment that I wanted to remember forever, the kiss that she had initiated, the moment that I knew she must feel the same way about me as I felt about her. I dug in hard to the final kiss, sliding my tongue along her bottom lip, wanting to just inhale her whole being.

She broke away after that, tucking her head up in between my jaw and shoulder, and I couldn't help but kiss the bare expanse of neck in front of me. I had dreamed of this so many times. Now I could barely believe it was happening – the whole last several minutes seemed like a dream that I was bound to wake up from at any time.

Meli's hands went sliding up my scalp, sending a shiver down my spine, and she took a firm but gentle hold of my hair as her forehead pressed into mine. “You came back,” she whispered, breath nearly hitching in her throat. “I didn't think I was ever going to see you again.”

“I wasn't sure if I would see you again, either.” Pulling away slightly, I let my eyes roam over her tear-streaked face, bringing one hand up to squeeze the back of her neck. “I'm so happy that you're okay.”

“I'm glad you're okay, too.” Her brow furrowed. “You...are okay, right? We thought it had to have been Xemnas...”

“Yeah, yeah we're fine,” I assured her, not wanting her to worry anymore.

“No he's not!” I shut my eyes and clenched my jaw shut at Sora's interruption. So much for not making her worry. “He could barely walk just a few minutes ago.”

Meli jerked her head back around from looking at Sora to stare wide-eyed at me, frantically scooting herself off of my lap an instant later. I saw the moment that she found the wound on my shoulder. “Grim, why didn't you say something?”

“It's not that bad.”

“He only says that because the one on his back is a lot worse,” Sora called.

“Sora...” It was too late then, Meli was already crawling through the water to reach my back, and my swatting hand wasn't fast enough to keep her from yanking up my shirt to see.

“You can't lie to your girlfriend, Riku. At least not while I'm around. I'm the one who just dragged your butt through the dark realm, remember?”

I shot Sora a withering glare, but he only smirked cheekily with his hands on his hips.

Meli sucked in a gasping breath. “Grim! You...he nearly cut you in half! If this had been a quarter of an inch closer to your spine...”

“I know, I know.” I really wasn't sure that it hadn't already done some kind of damage to my spine, based on the near uselessness of my left leg. I hated that I was currently the center of all this attention though, with everyone standing around staring at me. “Don't fuss about it.”

Once again, I reached back and attempted to move her hands away and return my shirt to its normal position, but she latched onto my wrist to stop me. “Uh-uh. The tables are turned now. You have to let me take care of you, for once.”

The green light of a healing spell erupted over my head and spilled across my body. Immediately the less significant wound on my shoulder healed up, my leg stopped hurting, and the pain in my lower back was reduced to a dull ache.

Meli propped her chin on my shoulder. “How does that feel?”  
  


“Much better,” I sighed in relief, turning my head to look at her as best I could. “Thanks...”

Her finger jabbed straight into the spot where the wound had been before I could fully finish my thought. Another jolt of pain shot through my torso at the contact, and I winced without thinking.

“Still hurts, though, doesn't it?” she asked. I couldn't even be mad at her, I was too relieved to have her back to her old, sassy self. “And you guys think I'm bad at accepting help.” Another Curaga fell over me, and I breathed in deeply as the last of the pain receded. “Okay, now how does it feel?”

I spun myself around to face her, happy to once again be able to move freely, and grabbed her hands in mine. “Now it feels perfect. Honestly.”

She started to smile, but quickly dropped it for a stern look. “You should have let me know that you were hurt before I came and jumped on you like that. If I had known–”

“No, don't you dare.” I brushed my thumb across her cheek, relishing the way her eyelids fluttered at the touch. “I would not have traded that moment for anything.” That moment would probably go down in history as one of my most cherished.

A little while later, we had all made ourselves comfortable up on the beach. I was more than comfortable, in fact, I was in heaven. Meli's warm body fit perfectly up against mine, her breath whispering across my bare arm from where her head rested against my heart. The conversation had touched on more than one serious subject over the last few minutes, but no one was in much of a hurry to do anything but just enjoy this moment, enjoy finally all being together and at peace.

Squeezing Meli a little tighter in my arms, I dropped a kiss onto her forehead. She obligingly tilted her face back further, and I drank in her features once again. After knowing her for so long without being able to actually look at her, I didn't think I was ever going to get tired of the sight. I brushed my lips down her perfect little nose, then found her lips again, tasting the salt from the ocean that had dried there.

“Ew.” A seashell ricocheted off my arm, and I very reluctantly broke the kiss to send another glare at Sora. “You two are going to be 'that couple' at school, aren't you?”

“Aw, give them a break.” Kairi slapped Sora's arm, and he rubbed the spot with a wrinkled nose. “They're adorable. And besides, I think they've earned a little PDA.”

Whether she thought that because we had apparently been missing for two weeks instead of a few hours, or because maybe she had heard a bit more of our story at some point along the way, I didn't know, but I couldn't care less. I just wanted to get back to kissing my girl. Apparently she had the same thought, because when I turned my attention back to her she was smiling up at me. My girl. My Meli. I still couldn't believe it. I kissed her again, trying to wrap my brain around the thought that I was going to be able to keep kissing her whenever I wanted.

“I love you, Grim.”

I stopped breathing for what must have been at least a few seconds, my ears ringing with the words I had waited so long to hear. Tears pricked my eyes, and I buried my face in her soft hair before they could get the best of me. She loved me. I was the happiest guy in the universe. “I love you, Meli.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for all the fluff! Of course, this is me, so I had to include a little angst, too, but this chapter is mostly just full-on fluff. I think I decided to write this one because I started thinking about what exactly would have happened after everyone left the beach at the end of the story. Inferno's Edge picks up a bit further down the road from the end of Sorrow's Promise, so there are a few relationship moments that we miss, and I wanted to touch on those.
> 
> This chapter takes place right after the end of the story, when they are on their way home that night.

**Chapter 54.5**

(Falls right after the end of book 1)

_Meli's Perspective_

Destiny Islands didn't really believe in street lamps, but the moon was full and lit up the road before us just enough. Everything was quiet. It felt as if the elements of the world had breathed a collective sigh at the return of their resident heroes, and now could rest at ease. Or maybe that was just me. My heart was at peace for the first time that I could remember, my body full to the brim with happiness.

Glancing up at Riku beside me, I couldn't help but smile. He was home, and he was...mine. A blush crept over my cheeks at the thought. I didn't even know what that meant, for sure. Only that it was nice, to know that we felt the same way about each other, that I was finally free to let my fears go and just love with no inhibitions, that I could have him by my side whenever I wanted and experience more of the blissful affection that we had shared on the beach.

As if reading my mind, Riku looked down at me with a soft smile. “It's so surreal...being back here after so long...having you with me. I'm a bit afraid that I'm gonna wake up any minute and find out it's all a dream.”

My lips quirked upward. “Nah, we determined a long time ago that this was all my dream, remember?”

Riku laughed, and my heart fluttered in my chest. “Oh right, I had almost forgotten. You were so determined that I was a figment of your imagination.”

“Oh yeah, you definitely are. There's no way that me being with a guy like you could be real.”

Halting suddenly, Riku swung around to face me, sending tingles all over my body as he pulled it up against his. “Don't you start with that again,” he warned, expression stern. “We've had this conversation before, remember?”

I let out a giggle. “Yeah, I know. I'm just kidding. I just wanted to see your sexy lecture face.”

His eyebrows flew up. “Sexy, huh?”

The blush on my face returned with full force. “Um...maybe...” I hadn't actually meant to say that part aloud, but it was kind of fun to be able to without worrying about what anybody would think.

Riku's mouth twisted to the side in thought, and I stared at his lips, running my tongue over mine unconsciously as I remembered how he had tasted earlier. “So, is that why you seem to like to rile me up so often? Because you think I'm sexy when I'm lecturing you?”

“Uh...” It wasn't true, I was just hard to get along with, but the thought was funny enough to make me fight back a smile and play along. “Maybe...”

I could see him battling against his own smile, trying to keep his “sexy lecture face” on, but it was a battle he soon lost. He laughed aloud again, then moved his arms up to wrap around my shoulders. “Come here, you. I'm gonna really give you a lecture.”

His mouth devoured mine, and I thought my knees might give out. Why had I let it take me so long to say yes to this? This was heaven. I didn't think I would ever get used to life being this wonderful, nor did I want to.

Our lips eventually parted, slowly and a bit reluctantly. His eyes smiled down into mine as I breathed a contented sigh. “I guess...” Riku pulled his gaze away and glanced over to the side. “I guess that I should go in at some point soon.”

Surprised, I followed his gaze. We were standing right in front of a modest sized, one-story house. The small front porch and yard were unadorned, void of any signs of people living there, but a light was on inside a front room. “This is your house?”

“Yep.” He did not sound at all enthused about the fact.

I pushed back away from him and waved my hand towards the house. “Well what are you waiting out here for, then? Go see your mom!”

Riku raised an eyebrow mischievously at me and started to step in closer. “I think you know why I was waiting out here.”

“Nope.” I stopped him with a finger on his chest. “You're just using me as an excuse to put off what you know you need to do.”

“Now who's got on their sexy lecture face?”

Planting my hands on my hips, I scowled at him. “Shut up and get going.”

“Okay, fine.” Riku cupped my cheeks in his hands. “Are you going to wait for me?”

I hadn't expected him to ask, but didn't mind the thought at all. “Do you want me to?”

“Mm-hmm.” He bent down to press another kiss onto my forehead. “If you don't mind. I promise I won't make you wait long.”

“Okay.” I gave him an encouraging smile as he stepped away and headed up onto the porch and through the unlocked front door. Locking doors wasn't really a Destiny Islands thing, either, kind of like street lights. Once he had disappeared inside, I trailed after him, taking a seat on the porch step. The stars seemed especially bright tonight. At least now I could enjoy looking at them, instead of worrying about whether Riku and Sora were alive to see them.

He was alive, and he was home. His mother was going to be ecstatic to see him...or at least I hoped she would. I knew they weren't super close, but surely after having no idea where her only son was for two years or more, she would give him the welcome that I was sure he needed from her. Hopefully there wouldn't be much fussing at him for leaving, either. He had enough guilt as it was.

The minutes ticked by slowly, mostly because I had no idea what was happening inside. Finally, light spilled out onto the ground around me as the door opened, and I twisted around to see Riku. He looked drained, but he was smiling and beckoning me with his hand.

“Come here. I want you to meet my mom.”

My eyes widened. “What? Now?” I guess I had assumed that I would meet her eventually, but I never would have thought it would be this soon. I rose to my feet, but wavered uncertainly on the step.

“Yeah, if that's okay with you.” He reached for my hand, and pulled me towards the door. “Don't worry, she doesn't bite.”

The living room, much like the outside of the house, was pristine, and lacking in personal touches. There were no family photos, no trinkets sitting on the bookshelf. It was comfortable, though, with plenty of seating. Riku's mom rose from the chair where she had been sitting when we entered the house, her hands folded daintily in front of her.

“Meli, this is my mom. Uh, I guess you can call her Mrs. Tanaka.”

I hadn't even realized before that moment that I didn't actually know Riku's last name. Mrs. Tanaka was only slightly taller than I was, much smaller than her towering son. Her hair was dark blonde, and her eyes were a darker color as well, leading me to believe that Riku must have gotten most of his appearance from his father. Her eyes were also currently puffy, so I assumed that she had been crying.

“Mom, this is Meli. She's...” He turned his gaze to me, pressing his lips together. “Well, we haven't actually technically decided what we are yet, I don't guess. But...she's very special to me.” His warm smile made my heart speed up.

“I'm good with whatever you want to call me,” I murmured in return.

Riku's smile broadened. “Okay, then. Mom, this is my girlfriend, Meli.”

Girlfriend. I thought my heart might explode out of my chest, and had to fight hard to keep from having a huge, goofy grin on my face as I turned back to Mrs. Tanaka. “Hi,” I squeaked.

The creases around her eyes deepened as she smiled back at me. “Hello, Meli. It's very nice to meet you.”

“We've known each other for several months now, but the whole...relationship thing is new,” Riku explained. “She definitely played a big part in getting me back home.”

“Well, then I am very grateful.”

“He helped me a lot more than I helped him,” I mumbled, ducking my head sheepishly.

Riku wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Let's just call it even.” He pressed his lips onto my temple. “Want me to walk you...wait, you do have somewhere you're staying, right?”

“Yeah, at Kairi's.”

He smiled. “Good. I'll walk you up there.”

A flash of an emotion crossed Mrs. Tanaka's face. Riku must have seen it, too, because he released me and crossed to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “I'll be back within the hour, 'kay Mom? No more disappearing, I promise.”

She nodded, renewed tears glistening in her eyes, and he kissed the top of her head. “Goodbye, Meli. I hope you'll come by again soon.”

I smiled and gave an awkward wave. “Thanks. Bye.”

We didn't say anything to begin with as we walked back out to the road and started towards the mayor's house. I caught Riku staring at the house next door to his as we passed by. “Is that Sora's house?”

“Hmm?” He glanced down at me. “Oh. Yeah. He was pretty nervous about seeing his parents again.”

I squeezed his hand. “So were you. But it all turned out okay...right?”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. It did.”

Furrowing my eyebrows, I studied his profile in the moonlight. “Your mom...was she...?”

“Mostly just relieved,” he answered before I could fully form the question. “Like Kairi said she'd be. I just...” He heaved a sigh, running his free hand down his face. “I feel really bad for all the worry and sadness I caused her. I could have come back at any time and let her know I was okay. I was just...”

“You were dealing with a lot of stuff,” I finished for him. “Was it a mistake to not come back? I don't know, maybe. But you can't keep blaming yourself for everything. You were trying to do what was right for everybody all at once.”

“But somehow my mom didn't make it onto that list.”

“I'm sure she's forgiven you already,” I assured him, my heart aching for his sadness. “She's your mom, after all. Now you're gonna have to forgive yourself.”

One corner of his mouth lifted in a slight smile, but he didn't reply. We walked in silence for another minute before he spoke up again. “I just...I didn't want her to see me like that, you know? I was so messed up with darkness, then with hiding from the darkness, then practically becoming the darkness... As much as I hate that I made her wait this long, I'm glad it's this me that she's seeing now.”

“Yeah,” I answered softly. “I get it.”

Nothing much else was said until we reached the front porch of the Yoshida's home. “You coming in?” I asked, turning to face him.

“Not this time. I'd better get back home.” He smiled and ran a hand through the long side of my hair. “I'll see you tomorrow, though, okay?” Leaning in, he kissed me – not the same drawn out, steamy kiss from earlier, but still sweet and sending thrills down to my toes.

“Okay...Boyfriend,” I replied with a gleam in my eye.

The grin on his face matched the exuberance in my heart. “Okay, Girlfriend.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another request from Nevquariel today! She asked for Meliku's first date, though I ended up spending just as much time on pre-date as I did the actual date. I had an easier time writing that part! But anyway, don't be fooled by the threat of angst at the beginning, this is definitely all fluff. Also it makes me crave all the foods that they eat.
> 
> This takes place a few weeks after the reunion on the beach.

**Bonus Chapter 5**

(Falls in between books 1 and 2)

_Meli's perspective_

“Hey, um...Meli?”

I looked up at Riku where he sat beside me with one arm draped over my shoulders. “Yeah?”

“Um...” His gaze remained on his lap. “Can I...talk to you for a minute? Alone?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” Frowning, I glanced over at Sora and Kairi, but they were still engrossed in their discussion about the movie we had just finished. Riku stood from the couch and began making his way toward the stairs that led up out of the basement, so I followed, though a bit reluctantly. He was acting weird. I didn't like it. My mind automatically went to worst case scenarios of what he might want to talk about.

_He's already tired of me. This is not going like he thought it would, and he's changed his mind. He's realized that I'm really not all that great, after all._

We stepped out onto the front porch, the yellowish tint of the setting sun bright in my eyes after the dim lights of the basement. Riku leaned against one of the towering white columns with one shoulder. His hands were fidgeting with the hem of his t-shirt, like he was nervous about the conversation to come. I was, too, my heart pounding in my chest, but I kept my hands clenched in fists by my side and refused to let my fear show.

“I, um...I was thinking. We...we've been together for, you know, a little while now...I mean, a few weeks, at least...”

He wasn't even looking at me, so I allowed my eyes to squeeze shut. _Just say it already._

“And I was just realizing that, well...we haven't actually been on an official date yet.” The last part of the sentence came out in a rush, and his halting speech was replaced with a constant stream of words. “We've been hanging out together for like, forever, it seems like, but it's always been either just as friends or with Sora and Kairi, and that's fun, I like doing that, too, but, you know, we are actually boyfriend and girlfriend now, so we should, like, date at some point, and that's my fault that I haven't even asked you out yet, I guess because we had such an unorthodox start to our relationship, but–”

“Grim.” At some point during his rambling speech it began to dawn on me where he was going with this, and I stared at him incredulously. “Are you...asking me on a date?”

Finally he made eye contact, and let out a huge breath with a whoosh. “Yeah,” he replied sheepishly, the corners of his mouth turning up just slightly. “That's...what I was supposed to be doing, anyway. I'm not doing a great job of it, though.”

My earlier fears having flown out the window, I grinned and gave a laugh. “We've been a couple for weeks, like you said, and we practically lived alone together for months before that. Why are you so nervous about asking me – your girlfriend – on a date? It's not like you don't know whether or not I like you.”

He blushed, his shoulders raising up around his ears. “I don't know. It's just...official, you know? Our first date. Feels like it needs to be done right. Which...I completely failed at.”

Giggling again, I stepped forward and pecked him on the cheek. “I would love to go on a date with you, Riku Tanaka.”

His smile grew, and he straightened up and cleared his throat. “Glad to hear it. Shall I pick you up tomorrow night at six?”

“That sounds delightful.”

.o.0.O.0.o.

Despite the grief I gave Riku about being nervous asking me out, I found myself just as nervous the next evening as six o'clock drew near. Kairi had helped me get ready, at least by finding a new way to style my awkward, half-grown-out hair so that it looked semi-decent, and by nearly forcing some lip gloss and mascara onto my face. My clothing I had picked out myself, though it was nothing too spectacular – just a nice pair of dark wash skinny jeans paired with a flowy turquoise top and some black boots. I hoped he wasn't taking me anywhere too fancy, because I didn't have any nicer options. My purple bracelet from Zephyr was in its usual place around my left wrist, and I wore the choker that had come with my fairy outfit.

Kairi laughed at me as I bounced up and down on my toes at the bottom of the stairs. “You two are hilarious. You'd think that this was your first ever time being alone together.”

“Well, it's...it's different.” I bent my knees and straightened them again, trying to work out my pent up energy. “We were alone all the time to start with, yeah, but it's like he said, we were just friends. It didn't mean anything.” I jumped, thinking I heard someone at the door for the fifteenth time, then sighed. “Tonight is supposed to be special. I just want it to go well.”

“And it will!” Kairi stood from where she had been sitting on the steps and placed both her hands on my shoulders. “Especially if you will just relax. If both of you are this nervous the whole time then it's not going to be nearly as fun. You love him, he loves you, so just be yourself!”

I drew in a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then released it. “Yeah. You're right. I'll try.”

Just then the doorbell finally rang, and any calm that I had acquired vanished. With a mischievous smirk, Kairi jogged away before I could move and yanked open the front door. “Ooh, Riku, don't you look nice this evening! I wonder who you could be here to see?”

“Hi, Kairi,” I heard him mumble, then he pushed past her and entered the foyer, his eyes immediately finding mine. He was wearing jeans, too, and his usual pair of sneakers, but his black t-shirt was accompanied by a casual grey jacket with a stand-up collar that I had never seen before. His hands were in his pockets, and I could tell from his stance that he was still nervous, too. “Hey.”

I smiled, trying to calm all my jittery movements. “Hi.”

He grimaced suddenly, putting a hand to his forehead. “Shoot, I should have brought you flowers or something. I'm sorry. I told you I was failing at this.”

“It's okay! I don't need flowers.” _I don't want flowers._ Walking forward to meet him, I clasped his hand in mine. “Let's just get out of here, okay?”

“Hold on, not so fast.” Mr. Yoshida's deep voice broke into the conversation as he entered the room, startling me. “You weren't going to take off from my house on a date without even saying hello, were you?” He eyed Riku sternly.

“Uh...” If I thought Riku was flustered before, it had multiplied by ten now. “No, sir. Of course not.”

“Dad!” Kairi drew out the word, hands on her hips, glaring at him. “Don't go into dad mode now. They're not even your kids.”

Mr. Yoshida crossed his arms and raised his chin in the air a bit. “Maybe not. But last I checked, this one is currently living in my house, and this one might as well most weeks.” He gestured to me and to Riku in turn, then focused his attention back on us, smiling. “Don't worry, I'm not going to threaten you or anything. However.” His face and voice grew serious again. “I do expect you to have her back home by ten o'clock, young man. And behave yourselves.”

“Dad...”

Riku nodded quickly. “Yes, sir. I will. We will.”

“Yes, sir,” I mumbled.

“And have fun!” Mr. Yoshida smiled again, throwing me a wink. “That's important, too.”

Nodding, I smiled a little back at him. “Okay.”

“Alright, now get going before Mom shows up and starts taking pictures or something!” Opening the door, Kairi waved us out, and we made our escape hand in hand.

“Whew!” Riku exclaimed when were safely walking down the road toward town. “That was...awkward.”

I laughed aloud, already feeling my nerves settling now that we were alone. “Yes it was. So, where are we going?”

“Dinner? Dinner sound good?”

He still sounded nervous, like I was somehow gonna say no to food, and I squeezed his hand. “Yep, dinner sounds great.”

There weren't many restaurants on the island, but I hadn't yet had a chance to try any of the ones that were there. He took me to a place called Ocean Breeze, which, ironically, was about as far away from the ocean as you could get around here, but of course even that wasn't very far. They served fresh seafood caught by some of the many local fishermen. Growing up I had never been exposed to seafood too much, if you didn't count frozen fish fingers – which I quickly found out no one here did. It was common fare at the Yoshida house, though, so I had learned to like it over the last several weeks. A glance over Ocean Breeze's menu showed that the seafood here was mostly fancier than the shrimp tacos and grilled fish fillets we typically ate at home.

I ended up ordering a plate of shrimp and scallop fettuccine, the waiter took our menus and left a bowl of hot rolls, and suddenly we were left alone with no obvious subject to talk about again.

“You look nice tonight,” Riku blurted suddenly. “I don't...think I said that yet.”

“Oh. Thanks.” I shrugged one shoulder. “Kairi made me wear some of her mascara.”

“Hm. I thought something was a little different.” He tilted his head to the side, looking. “It looks good. I mean I don't think you need it, but...”

I smiled a little. “Thanks. I, um...I like your jacket.”

He glanced down at it. “Thanks.”

_Wow. Kairi was right, we need to relax. This is ridiculous._ I picked up my water glass and chugged half of it, and the waiter magically appeared a moment later to refill it. “So...how was school today?”

“Oh, uh...it was fine, I guess. Same ol' same ol', you know.” For a second I was worried that was all he would say, but then he started up again, telling me about something funny that had happened on lunch break. Thankfully, that seemed to be the ice breaker we needed. One conversation led into another after that, and we talked all the way until the food arrived and throughout the meal, too. Riku ordered a chocolate lava cake for dessert that we split, then paid the check despite my protests.

“This is what boyfriends do,” he insisted.

It was dark by the time we left the restaurant, and the air had cooled, though it wasn't late enough in the year to get truly cold at night. Riku pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the time. “Well, we've still got a while until you have to be back. We could walk around some of the shops here if you want, or go down to the beach...?”

I looked up and down the street at the store fronts, considering. “Let's go to the beach, if that's okay with you.” Shopping could be fun, and I knew from coming here with all four of us before that they had some cute little shops. But since we had just spent over an hour in a public space, some peace and quiet sounded nice.

Riku nodded. “The beach it is.”

We talked off and on for the entire walk, swinging our joined hands between us. It wasn't until we settled down onto the sand, with Riku wrapped around me from behind, that silence fell again, and this time it was more than comfortable. His breath was warm across my cheek, his arms firm around my waist, and the crashing of the waves in the darkness probably could have lulled me to sleep eventually.

“I don't know about you, but I think this has been a pretty nice first date.”

I could feel his smile where his face touched mine. “Yeah. It has.” He turned further in toward me, the bridge of his nose nestling my jaw. “Though there is one thing that people usually do on dates that we haven't gotten to yet.”

Before I could ask him what he meant, he was dropping little shiver-inducing kisses behind my ear and down the side of my neck, and I got a pretty good idea of where this was going. Sure enough, a moment later he shifted positions and tugged me up into his lap so that our lips could meet.

Time was a bit of a blur after that. We alternated between kissing, cuddling, and kissing some more, until Riku reluctantly announced that we should be heading back and we had to drag ourselves back onto the road toward home. I was pretty sure that my mascara was all smeared under my eyes and my lips were much redder than the shade of lipgloss I had left with, but maybe I would be lucky and not run into the Yoshidas on my way in. I winced. _Probably won't be so lucky with Kairi, though._

I scrubbed underneath my eyes as we walked up onto the porch, then smiled up at Riku when he turned to face me. “We should definitely do this again sometime.”

“Oh yeah, definitely.” He grasped my arms, rubbing his thumbs over my skin. “Now that we've had a first date, there will most definitely be more to come.”

“I mean, if for no other reason than we don't get makeout sessions like that otherwise,” I teased.

“Mm-hm.” Chuckling, he bent down for one more kiss. “Goodnight, Meli. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” With a last smile and a little wave, I opened the door and slipped inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody really seems to be reading these anymore, so I don't know whether I should bother to keep posting them or not. But for the one or two people who still are, we only have probably 2 left before it'll be time to start the sequel.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More fun and fluff this week – though this time it's fluff of the family variety. I actually originally planned on posting this with the sequel, because this moment is briefly referenced in that story. That's why you'll see a little change in formatting in the form of italics in this chapter – that's a change that I've made in the sequel, as well, putting some thoughts in italics. Anyway, I decided in the end that this fit in better with the last few oneshots that I've posted, and since there are no spoilers in it, it made more sense to post it now instead of waiting.
> 
> This chapter takes place one month after the ending of Sorrow's Promise.

**Bonus Chapter 1**

(Falls in between books 1 and 2)

_Meli's Perspective_

“Okay, everybody, time to eat!” Mr. Yoshida called down the stairs.

That's all it took for the boys to completely abandon their super competitive game of pool and pound up the basement stairs at lightning speed. Kairi and I exchanged smiles and rolled eyes, following at a much calmer pace.

“Boys and their food.”

She laughed. “I know, right? As much as I love those two, it sure is nice to have you around to balance out their testosterone a little these days.”

A minute later, we were all settling around the Yoshidas dining room table for dinner, Riku and Sora not hesitating to pile the food high on their plates. “You'd think they had just fought Xemnas today, not a month ago,” I quipped.

“Hey, going to school and doing homework takes a lot out of a guy,” Sora protested before shoveling a forkful of pasta into his mouth.

“And playing pool,” Riku added with a smirk.

“Uh-huh, dat too,” Sora agreed with his mouth full.

Mrs. Yoshida, sitting directly across from me, clasped her hands together in front of her, watching all of us with a sparkle in her eyes. “Well, it may have been a month ago, but it still makes me so incredibly happy to have you all back around my table again. Plus one very special addition, of course.”

I ducked my head to hide my blush, twirling my fork around in my pasta. After a moment, though, I felt like she was still watching me, and I lifted my face slightly. She was, indeed, still staring, a strange look on her face.

“Mom? Everything okay?” Kairi asked.

Mrs. Yoshida shook her head as if waking from a trance. “Oh. Yes. Sorry, I just...it's strange. You two...” She cut her eyes back and forth between me and Kairi, who was sitting right next to me. “I never noticed it to start with, but I've started seeing lately...you look...startlingly similar.”

Kairi immediately turned to look at me with raised eyebrows, but I tilted my face in the other direction, rubbing a hand up and down my cheek to block her view. “Oh, uh...really? I...never noticed,” I stammered.

Nodding, Mrs. Yoshida leaned forward as if to get a closer look. “Yes, well I did notice the eyes right off the bat. Maybe it was because you were so thin when you first arrived, Meli, that the other similarities didn't stand out to me. But now...your facial features are nearly identical, not to mention your body types.” Leaning back again, she glanced around at the others. “Doesn't anyone else see it?”

Finally getting tired of me hiding, Kairi pulled my hand down from my face and grabbed my chin, turning my head towards her. “Well, I always did say that we looked a bit alike, but I never thought of it being identical.” She beamed. “Maybe we really are long lost sisters, like I said before! Twins, even!”

I laughed nervously. The others were talking quietly among themselves, but Riku's eyes caught mine from the end of the table.

He raised one eyebrow. _You haven't told them yet?_

I cut my eyes away, pressing my lips together. _No..._

His other eyebrow went up to meet the first. _Don't you think you ought to?_

I gave him somewhere between a smile and a grimace. _Probably, but...how...?_

His face dropped into an expression of amused scolding. _Come on, Meli. You can't keep it a secret forever._

I rolled my eyes and sighed. _I know._

“Okay, what was...that?” Kairi furrowed her brow, pointing to first me, then Riku. Apparently she had been watching our silent conversation. “You guys know that was so not subtle, right? I know you two know something, so spill.”

Whimpering, I slid down in my seat so that only my eyes and the top of my head were visible above the table. Riku laughed. “Come on, Meli. You're acting like it's embarrassing or something. Just tell them.”

I shook my head vigorously in reply.

“It's not embarrassing, it's just...weird.”

“Not helping!” I shot a glare at him.

“Okay, fine. I'll tell them.” He leaned onto his elbows on the table. “Meli is from a parallel universe.”

Sora paused mid-chew and stared, then swallowed his food. “You mean like, from another world, right? 'Cause we already knew that.”

“No, dude, I literally mean from a parallel universe.” Riku launched into an explanation that was, in his own words, basically what DiZ had told us when I had first arrived. How universes split off from each other, the infinite possibilities that existed, the fact that only a handful of people could travel between them. I inched myself back up in my chair as he spoke, keeping my focus mainly on my food, but sneaking peeks at everyone's faces periodically.

“So what you're saying is, there's an infinite number of all of us out there somewhere, each leading completely different lives,” Mr. Yoshida clarified as the story concluded.

Riku nodded. “Basically, yeah. Though the lives may or may not be all that different, depending on what changes were made in that universe's history.”

Everyone seemed to be taking this information in and digesting it. Kairi, however, was quick on the uptake. She rotated quickly to face me, a look of concentration in her eyes. “You're...you're me, aren't you?”

A deafening silence fell as everyone ceased eating to listen. I swallowed hard, my eyes darting up to Riku, then back to my plate. Were they going to completely freak? Would they kick me out? It didn't really matter now. I couldn't just lie to her face. “Um...as far as we can tell...yeah.”

Someone choked on their food, and a fork clattered loudly onto a plate. I jumped, rubbing my hand up and down my arm nervously. “That, um...that would explain, you know...why we look alike...” I hastened to continue.

“And why our backgrounds are so similar,” Kairi finished with a smile of realization. “Neither of us remember before a certain age...”

“The same exact age,” Riku pointed out.

Kairi nodded thoughtfully. “You just...never got adopted.”

I bit down on my lip and nodded. “Right.”

Sora finally spoke up again. “But you have purple hair.”

I cracked a small smile. “You thought that was natural?” I indicated Kairi's hair with my thumb. “My natural color is...that.”

He shook his head. “So wait...isn't there like...shouldn't you be, like, causing some kind of rift in time and space right now? Isn't there some kind of law against two Kairis...” He looked back and forth between us. “Or...two Melis...whoever you are, two of you existing in the same room at the same time?”

I shrugged lightly. “Hasn't been a problem so far.”

Riku cleared his throat. “Also, as more proof that they're the same person...Meli knew versions of me and you back in her universe.”

Sora's jaw dropped open. “Really? That's so freaky! Is that me just as cool as the real me?”

“Well you're both plenty real,” I smirked, picturing Zephyr's goofy grin. “And...let's go with he's just as dorky as you are.”

Before Sora could protest my answer, Kairi gasped and planted her palm on the table. “Is that why Aiden looked so much like Axel?”

Sighing, I rubbed my face vigorously with both hands. “Maybe...” I did not expect that subject to come up quite so quickly.

“You dated Axel?” Sora cried, his nose scrunched up in disgust.

“No, I dated...” I dropped my forehead onto the table with a groan. “Can we please not talk about them right now?”

“Well, this is all...very...unexpected, and interesting.”

I lifted my head slowly to look at Mrs. Yoshida, not sure what kind of expression I expected to see. When she caught my eye, she smiled. “You always did seem very...familiar to me. On the other hand, though, you and Kairi are so different in many ways.”

Wetting my lips, I stared down at my hands in my lap. “You're not...are you...mad? That I didn't tell you right away?”

“Of course not!” Mr. Yoshida chimed in. “I would imagine that this is a secret you're used to keeping from everyone.”

I glanced up at him and nodded once. “I was afraid you'd be really freaked out by it. I wouldn't blame you.”

“It is definitely very surprising, and a lot to think about,” Mrs. Yoshida replied.

Pressing my lips together, I inhaled sharply before blurting out my true fear. “If you don't want me to stay, then...I won't. If it freaks you out for me to be here, then just...just let me know, and...like I said, I won't blame you.”

Immediately Kairi's arms were wrapped around my shoulders, and she pressed her cheek up against mine. I tensed slightly, still not used to physical affection being a friendship thing. “You poor thing, is that what you were worried about?”

“We're not going to kick you out, sweetie.” Mrs. Yoshida leaned forward, an earnest look in her brown eyes. “We've told you before that we want you to stay as long as you want to, and that's not going to change just because of a little thing like this.”

Mr. Yoshida was nodding fervently. “That's right.”

“I don't care who you are, I'm still gonna keep pretending that you're my sister,” Kairi giggled, giving me another squeeze. “That's what you feel like to me!”

Tears stung my eyes, and I dashed at them with the back of my hand. This feeling of warmth inside of me...it wasn't just from Kairi's ongoing hug. It was something much stronger, something that I hadn't felt a lot of in my lifetime. Acceptance. I met Mrs. Yoshida's eyes again and smiled. “Thank you.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's request was from FFN user Enamis09. She asked for Meli telling her friends about her former universe. The hair braiding session was not part of the request, but I couldn't resist!
> 
> I would imagine that this takes place a few days (or maybe even the next day!) after the previous oneshot where everyone found out that Meli was Kairi's doppelganger.

**Bonus chapter 3**

(Falls somewhere between books 1 and 2)

_Meli's perspective_

“So, this parallel universe.” Sora was lying across his bed with his legs stretched up the wall, his head hanging slightly over the edge of the mattress. “What's it like?”

Before I could think of where to even start with an answer, Riku piped up from where he sat just in front of me. “They have tacos.”

“Wait, you've been there?” Sora exploded, flopping abruptly over onto his stomach to stare wide-eyed at us.

“No. I've just had their tacos.” He tilted his head to the side, nearly making both Kairi and me lose our grips on his already slippery hair, earning himself a smack on the shoulder from my sister. “They were kinda crappy tacos, to be honest.”

I laughed, tugging on the braid that I had just finished. “That's because it was Taco Bell. They're supposed to be crappy. They cost like, one munny each.”

“Do you have pizza?” Sora asked.

“Yes.”

“What about ice cream?”

“Of course, though I'd never heard of sea-salt ice cream before.”

“Pancakes?”

“Yep.”

“They also have coffee,” Riku interrupted. “Lots of coffee, apparently. It's a big deal over there.”

“And I still have not figured out why it's not over here!” I threw my head back dramatically. “How do you people live?”

“With our tastebuds intact.” Kairi wrinkled her nose at me. “You and Dad are weird. Coffee is gross.”

“I like coffee!” Sora piped back up. “At least if it has lots of sugar in it.”

I smirked wryly at him as I started on another little braid. “Yeah, somehow you strike me as the double chocolate chip frappuccino with extra whipped cream type.”

His eyes went wide. “I don't know what that is but it sounds delicious.”

“Sora's not allowed to have coffee.” Kairi tied off her braid and began playing around with all of the ones we had already finished, arranging them in different ways. “Between the caffeine and the 'lots of sugar' he puts in it...well, you can imagine the results.”

I laughed as Sora pouted. “Yes. Yes, I can.”

“Okay, but back to the other universe. Do they have a beach?” Kairi asked.

“Oh yeah, plenty of them. But none anywhere near where I lived.”

“You lived in a big city, right?” Riku questioned over his shoulder.

I nodded. “Right. I can't...really think of anywhere I've seen here to compare it to...well, except for when we were fighting Xemnas, and we walked through those big doors onto the city street. That reminded me of my city at night, just, you know, add in people and cars, and take out the psychopath and the flying buildings.”

Riku and Kairi seemed to be thinking back to that moment, considering the information. Sora, however, jumped right back into the apparent game of twenty questions. “But do you have video games?”

Laughing, I rolled my eyes affectionately. “Maybe it would be easier if I just told you the differences that I know of.”

He nodded eagerly. “Yeah, let's hear it!”

I shifted to sit cross-legged, letting Kairi take over the hair styling for the moment, since she was busy twisting all of the braids together anyway. “Well, there's no magic.”

Sora blinked. “What? Not even a little bit?”

“Not that I know of.” I shrugged. “People pretend to do magic sometimes, but it's all tricks and illusions. I mean, it could be that I just never heard about it, like some of the people here, but I've never seen evidence of it.”

“So no Keyblades, right?” Kairi queried, painstakingly pinning her creation into place.

“Right. And no Heartless or Nobodies that I've ever seen. I'm not sure how that difference works.”

Dropping his head back down onto the bed, Sora let his arms dangle down over the side. “Gee. Maybe we should take a vacation there sometime.”

“Technology is a big deal, too...not in every part of the universe, necessarily, but at least in the most populated parts. TV, computers, the internet...”

“What's the internet?”

I laughed. “I have no idea how to even begin to explain that to you. I was rarely ever on it, myself, only if I was job hunting at the library. I didn't have a computer at my apartment, just a tiny, old TV.”

“Which is where you got all of your many quotes and references from,” Riku commented.

“Right,” I smiled. “I was kind of an anomaly in that sense, though...not owning a computer, or a smartphone. Pretty much everyone owns a smartphone these days.”

“What's a smartphone?”

“Mm, it's a mobile phone, but you can do all kinds of other things on it, too. Like it's got a camera, and the internet...which I realize you guys still don't know what that is...and you can edit pictures, and send messages, and play games...basically it's a computer. Just, a really tiny computer that is also a phone.” I never imagined that I would need to explain these things to anybody, and I was now aware that I completely sucked at it.

“Oh, and another important thing,” I added, getting back up on my knees to accept a handful of sparkly barrettes and flower pins from Kairi. “No humanoid animals like Donald, Goofy, and the King.”

“Really?” Sora exclaimed.

“Well you know, none of us had seen anything like them before we left the Islands,” Riku pointed out.

Sora hummed. “Yeah, that's true. But I'm so used to them now that it's hard to imagine them not existing.”

“I imagine it's somehow connected to the 'no magic' thing.” I clipped back a stray section of Riku's hair that hadn't made it into a braid. “But yeah, that was one of the biggest surprises for me over here, seeing them for the first time.”

Comfortable silence fell for a few minutes as Kairi and I peppered Riku's twisted braids with multi-colored flowers. “So, for the most part,” she spoke up eventually, “it sounds kinda like the two universes aren't all that much different.”

I pursed my lips in thought. “No, I guess not. Sometimes I think they are, but when it all boils down they have plenty of similarities.”

Silence again for a moment, then Riku asked very quietly, “Do you ever think about going back?”

Immediately I punched him in the arm. “No. Of course not. Why would I?” I glanced at each of my friends in turn, but returned my focus to the final flower pin in my hand as I spoke again. “I've got everything I could ever want right here.”

“Aw,” Sora cooed.

“Especially such a gorgeous man!” I exclaimed in an over-enthusiastic, affected voice, leaning forward to plant a wet smack on Riku's cheek. “Look at him, isn't he beautiful?”

“So beautiful!” Kairi joined in with her own weird accent. “The loveliest hair I've ever seen! Come over here, darling, and see how lovely it is!” She yanked him unceremoniously to his feet and dragged him across the room to the mirror that hung over Sora's dresser, and I followed with the handheld mirror so that we could show him the back of his head.

“What do you think, darling?” I asked him, grinning at his obviously nonplussed reaction.

“It's...yeah. It's lovely. Very...sparkly.”

Sora just shook his head at us. “Speaking of plenty of similarities...sometimes the two of you are way too much alike.”

“Watch it, mister.” Kairi pointed a finger at him and narrowed her eyes.

Then, in the most perfect coincidence, we both simultaneously added, “Besides, we are the same person, after all.”

Kairi and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows before bursting into giggles over the sound of Sora moaning, “That was so creepy!”

When the laughter had subsided, Kairi clapped her hands together, back down to business. “Alright. Riku's had his makeover. Now it's your turn!”

Sora bolted upright on the bed. “What? No! Riku volunteered, I never did such a thing!”

“Don't you want to be as gorgeous as Grim?” I teased.

He shook his head adamantly. “Nope. Nope. This is one competition he can win. Not doing it.”

“Aw, come on, Sora. Don't be a chicken,” Riku grinned.

“I'm not a chicken, I just– ahh!” His argument was cut off when Kairi and I both lunged for him. Flailing backwards, he fell off the end of the bed, but was back on his feet immediately and running out the door.

“After him!” Kairi cackled, and we raced out of the bedroom, hot on his heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is the last oneshot for now! Next Monday I will start posting the sequel, Inferno's Edge. Hope to see you all there!


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back with our first oneshot of the break, and this should be the only one that gets posted under this fic. The rest will be under "Inferno's Edge Oneshots", instead. This particular oneshot was requested by FFN user OmegaRetcon sometime after I was already posting Inferno's Edge, so that's why it's just now going up. They wanted to see Riku's reaction to Meli going missing...him searching for her all over the place was also mentioned, but I didn't end up including much of that because of...reasons. Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 40 ReMix**

(Runs parallel to chapter 40)

_Riku's perspective_

I was, admittedly, not in the best of moods after I left Meli in the mountains. I had tried everything I knew of, even admitting that my feelings for her had grown to the point that I couldn't deny it was love, but she still wasn't willing to forgive me yet. Despite all that, though, I had more pressing things to worry about, like the dragon Heartless that was headed toward the Imperial City, probably much faster than Sora and company would be able to travel without the dark corridors that I used.

Or so I thought. Just as I had finished warning the Emperor about the threat, I heard the unmistakable sound of a battle out in the hallway, complete with squawks from Donald and the occasional yell from Sora. After informing the Emperor that the problem would soon be taken care of, I moved out to the courtyard to watch the fight from the shadows. Sora was a big boy, I knew that. He had been handling himself just fine all this time without me. Didn't mean I was quite ready to give up my role as his protector just yet, not when there were giant Heartless about and I had been doing it since we were four and five years old.

The question was, why wasn't Meli with them? Even if she had wanted a few minutes alone after I had left, she still could have corridored her way down by then. It didn't seem like her to leave the boys to a fight like this on their own. Maybe she had decided to walk, though. Maybe she had actually listened to me for once and taken my advice about being careful with the darkness. I told myself there was nothing to worry about just yet, and focused on the wild battle happening in front of me, restraining myself more than once from jumping in without good cause. Meli had been right, it was reckless of me to get that close to Sora and let him figure out who I was, but I had been desperate to talk to her again. Ever since Port Royal she had been sticking much closer to her team, not giving me any chances to catch her alone.

Except for right now. Where was she? The battle was drawing to a close, and she still hadn't showed. Sora was noticing, too, resting his Keyblade on the ground and looking around as he panted for breath.

"I wonder what happened to Mel? Shouldn't she be here by now?"

Donald shrugged. "Who knows? She didn't even say why she was staying. I don't understand why she always has to be so mysterious about everything."

Sora's eyebrows pulled down as his mouth scrunched up, creasing his face into a look of concern that I had never liked seeing on him. "I hope nothing bad happened to her. Maybe we should head back up and see if we can find her."

I didn't wait to hear Donald's protests and groans about having to hike back up the mountain. They were starting at the bottom, so I was going to start at the top and work my way down. It only took an instant for me to arrive, and only slightly longer than that for my thoughts to start running away with all of the terrible things that could have happened. What if there was another avalanche and she got buried? What if she slipped on ice and fell off a cliff? What if she stopped moving for too long and got hypothermia? What if the Organization found her and...? I didn't even know how to finish that thought, or if I wanted to. As far as I knew, the Organization had no reason for wanting her dead or anywhere but with Sora fighting Heartless, but it seemed like they were always one step ahead with their plans.

The point was, I never should have left her alone on that mountain. It was far too dangerous, and I was an idiot to not make sure she got to the city safely before leaving her.

It didn't take long for me to pass the spot where she and I had talked. My head whipped back and forth as I traveled, trying to take in every single snowflake and rock face, and I paid little attention to my footing, slipping and sliding more than I actually walked. Several minutes past that area, I finally skidded to a stop when I almost fell into a large divot in the snow. A large, perfectly round divot. For a moment I just stared at it, trying to get it to make some kind of sense. It obviously wasn't made by anything natural. Glancing around, I spotted more just like it scattered about, always in sets of two. Like footprints. But what would have made footprints that big...except a Heartless or a Nobody.

My heart leapt into my throat. I had left her alone, and there were monsters roaming around that we hadn't accounted for. Why hadn't we accounted for them? They had just finished battling a whole hoard of small Heartless, and were chasing after a giant one, so why hadn't it crossed my mind that there could have been more lying in wait? And now Meli had...had...

I grabbed double fistfuls of my hair and pulled hard enough to smart. Breathe, Riku, breathe. She's not dead. She can't be. Why? a cynical voice inside my head asked. My eyes darted around the disturbed snow, trying to find the answer. Because...because there's no blood. It was a weak excuse, and I knew it. After two years of war, I had seen plenty of deaths that didn't involve blood. There was powerful enough magic out there that could disintegrate someone in the blink of an eye and leave no trace.

But she couldn't be dead. She just couldn't. If Meli was dead, I would...I would know. Somehow. At least that's what I was going to cling to, whether it made sense or not.

The question then remained...where was she? Already I could hear Sora and company's voices in the distance, calling out Meli's name over and over as they neared my position. Which meant that she wasn't anywhere on the main path, and it made no sense for her to have gone elsewhere on the mountain. But it made no sense for her to have simply left the world, either, leaving her team behind.

Where would she even have gone, if she had just taken off? Without fully realizing it I was already compiling a list of the first places I would check. Could I dare to hope that she had changed her mind about me, and had gone back to the mansion? Probably not, but I'd head there first, anyway. Destiny Islands, she always liked it there. Maybe she needed a breather.

First, though, there were more places in this world to check. I teleported back to the top of the mountain and started over again on the opposite side, ignoring my weary, aching body. If she wasn't anywhere to be found on the mountain, then I'd tear apart the Imperial City looking for her. I wasn't leaving this world until I was absolutely positive she was gone. I wasn't giving up until I made sure she was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought, and make sure to subscribe to the Daughter of Darkness series so that you won't miss the next update!


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